Lessons of Time, Part 1
by moonandstag126
Summary: 2k3 verse, set a few weeks after 'REPERCUSSIONS'. After such tumultuous events, the group can finally relax...until they are transported 100 years into the future before their Master is lost in the digital universe. How will the group cope with such changes and adapt to life back at home? Episodic and centring around each character in turn, set around the events of seasons 6 and 7.
1. Settling In

_**Author's note: I'm BACK! After nearly a year after Repercussions was completed I have finally made some progress with the next chapter in my TMNT series. Updates might be a little sporadic but I'm so happy to be finally uploading this :) Everything centres on seasons 6 and 7, exploring Leo and Venus' relationship, Raph's adaptation to the future, Donny's responsibility to his family; basically a bit of everything. While there is a linear story line, the plot embellishes the events of season 6, while skimming over season 7 (which I know we all try to forget) to explore the events directly after April and Casey's wedding.**_

 _ **Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and please review. It's so good to be back! :)**_

 **Settling In**

Venus thought she had finally found some normality. She thought that, for a little while at least, she could enjoy a little peace. They had defeated the Shredder, and had heard nothing from him for a few weeks. Thanks to a gentle exercise regime and a diet packed with protein, Venus had nearly physically fully recovered from his onslaught at the docks. Inside though, there were still cracks, and every day she meditated deeply to try and heal her core, at Master Splinter's insistence. She was also banned from using her gifts until she felt herself again.

They had managed to destroy the staff of Bu'Kai, and the sword of Tengu would be losing most of its power by now, hopefully damaged beyond repair thanks to its 'overcharging'. Reading through some of the oldest scrolls she had inherited, Venus was strangely glad it had been Shredder who had tried to combine both forces; in truth, he had no idea how to fully exploit the power he had wielded, it turns out, or realised that there was actually a way to keep the sword that powerful for a very long time after, _without_ having to use Venus as a constant battery charger. She'd inwardly shivered when she'd read that particular section, and found herself feeling quite sorry for the Shinobi victims who had had their power drained in such a way over 600 years ago. No, thankfully due to the Shredder's arrogance, it was too late, and Venus and her family were safe, for now. Quite rightfully, in her eyes, the group deserved a little normality. She herself had moved back into the lair, April helping her bring her stuff over the day after she woke up. She and Splinter were on speaking terms again too, which was a huge relief. She could see the guilt that still hung over him every day, and so she tried to act as if the past 6 months had never happened. She treated him with the same respect and affection as she had done before his disregard for her, which she knew had caught the others by surprise. To her shock, the three brothers had all apologised one by one for not sticking up for her when Master Splinter was being particularly cruel, or for not seeing the signs between her and Leo sooner and supporting it. To all three, she had told them not to apologise, not to worry, that all was healed and well. She would never ask them to choose between their father and herself, and once each of them had walked away, she let herself be glad that they had at least recognised their father's cruelty. It provided a little hope for the future, should something like this happen again. And she was glad that whenever Leo stole a kiss from her, or held her hand, or showed some form of affection in front of his family, they all smiled, or smirked, or 'awww'd in the case of Mikey. Even Master Splinter smiled, prompting Leo to do the same.

 _Leonardo_ …Venus smiled at the thought of him. For the past few weeks he had barely left her side. At first it had irritated her a little, but she realised it wasn't just out of worry. Being in a relationship was new and exciting for him (and for her too), and it made him want to constantly be around her. But she had told him that during training and battle they were still a team. They left the relationship aside whenever they had to fight, whether in the dojo or on the streets. Venus made him promise not to mollycoddle her or to place her above anyone else in terms of worth or protection. He had agreed, and she knew that Master Splinter had appreciated the gesture. And so they had attempt to pursue as normal a relationship as they could. In fact, after a few weeks everything felt normal again: her strength returned, her nightmares ceased, and her core had mostly healed, prompting her to exercise a few of her gifts. For a little while, the group enjoyed a moment of peace…until they had been transported 100 years into the future.

One moment Venus was reading through her scrolls in the living room, ignoring the bickering over the television remote, the next she was stood by the side of a very busy road. Initially, _New_ New York had been overwhelming for Venus, and the fact that they were all running around practically naked didn't help. She blushed as the guys all averted their eyes, even Leo; they had gotten _that_ close yet. The atmosphere around them made her feel strange, even after they were given their regulators (and thankfully some gear) to wear. It took her a while to realise it was because she was surrounded by bricks, and concrete, and metal; not one tree or plant in sight.

By the time they had found Mikey, and been escorted back to Cody's luxurious apartment, the group were exhausted.

"I'd give you guys a tour, but you look like you're gonna fall flat on your feet," Cody had offered, nervously smiling.

"A tour of the kitchen would be great!" Mikey replied. "I'm starving!"

"Michelangelo!" Splinter barked, slamming his staff to the floor. The group flinched, although Leo could see the bags underneath his father's eyes. "Do not be so rude."

"It's fine, Master Splinter," Cody replied. "Sirling can make something real quick in the kitchen." He looked awkward.

"Thank you Cody, but I believe it would be best if we all got a good night's sleep."

The group inwardly groaned at the prospect of not having any dinner, but nodded along to keep their father satisfied.

"Alright then," Cody answered, unsure. "I'll show you your rooms."

The group alighted a small flight of stairs to find a long corridor of several rooms.

"There are four bathrooms on this floor, which should be enough, right?"

They nodded, in a daze at the size of the apartment.

"Great. My room's upstairs, so I'll leave you guys to get settled. See you at breakfast tomorrow."

"Thank you Cody," Leo replied, giving him a deep bow. "For everything."

The others followed suit, startling Cody, who merely smiled and left to go upstairs.

"Well he's kinda awkward, isn't he?" Mikey grinned.

"Definitely gets that from Casey," Raph replied, earning smirks from his brothers.

"Enough my sons," Splinter interjected. "I suggest you all get some sleep. We will need to start sorting this mess in the morning."

"Yes Sensei," Leo responded, bowing to his father before turning to the rest of his family. "Right, everyone pick a room. We can figure all this out tomorrow."

The group disbanded, Venus kissing Leo on the cheek in goodnight before taking the room opposite his. She closed the door behind, leaning against it as she stared at the room before her. It had a massive window, the city sitting beneath it, twinkling. She also had a desk, a small bookcase, a TV, bedside cabinet, and a massive bed that she could tell was unbelievably comfortable just by looking at it.

Despite the luxury, she still felt unsettled. She moved forward to stare down at the city, desperately searching for one speck of green, something colourful other than a fancy advertising display or a light show. But there was nothing.

She immediately felt a little obsolete. What use does the ability to control nature have in a world so bereft of nature?

Voices outside dragged her mind back into the apartment. She gently opened her door but found no one in the corridor, the noises coming from Leo's room. She silently shut her door and softly tapped on his.

"Leonardo?" She whispered, tensing as the voices went silent within.

The door open a crack and a pair of eyes stared out at her.

"What's the password?"

"Michelangelo, you realise this is only a wooden door, right?"

A pause. "Good answer."

Venus smiled as Mikey opened the door fully and quickly pulled her inside, shutting it behind her.

"What's with all the secrecy?" Venus asked, surprised to see all four brothers sat in Leo's room.

"Mikey's hungry," Raph stated. "But don't wanna get caught by Master Splinter. Too bad he got caught by us tryna rope in Mr Sneaky here."

Leo rolled his eyes. "He didn't 'rope me in'."

"Not yet anyway," Donny muttered, before his stomach rumbled loudly. "I'm with Mikey on this one. You reckon that Serling could get us something?"

"He's not the butler, Don," Leo chided.

"Fine, then we'll just something ourselves," Raph, getting up to leave.

"Come on Raph, you're really going to sneak out?"

"Leo, I ain't even leaving the apartment!"

Venus' stomach suddenly growled very loudly, causing Raph to smirk.

"You really gonna let your girlfriend starve?"

"Raph-"

Leo was too late: his brothers quickly dragged Venus out of his room, leaving him to silently follow. He found them in the kitchen, watching Mikey as he made a load of grilled cheeses. Leo looked at the already chaotic kitchen in despair.

"How is it you can make so much mess making sandwiches, in such a short amount of time?" Leo asked, shaking his head.

"Easy bro. You just gotta get creative."

"And he's had plenty of practice," Donny added.

Venus smirked as Mikey presented her with the first sandwich.

"Mi'lady."

Her stomach immediately thanked her as she consumed her sandwich, the others soon sharing her satisfaction.

"Alright, I take it back. This was a great idea Mikey," Leo admitted. He earned a grin from his brother.

"Anytime bro."

With full stomachs, the group cleaned up the kitchen and snuck back to their rooms, falling into dreamless sleeps as soon as they crashed onto their beds.

The next morning, Venus awoke to the sound of knocking at her door. Bleary eyed, she sat up, frowning at the sunlight streaming through her window.

"Come in."

She was surprised to see Mikey peaking round her door.

"Hey, so, it's like 10am, and I don't wanna face Master Splinter's wrath alone."

"It's 10am?!"

Mikey nodded.

Venus leapt up and began pulling her gear on, Mikey turning his face until she opened the door fully.

"We better get the others,"

"Err, they're already up."

Venus gulped.

The pair made their way into the dining room to find Cody and Master Splinter sat at each end of the table, the brothers sat on the sides between them. Venus took her place opposite Leo while Mikey sat opposite Raph, Donny sitting between them.

"So good of you two to join us." Master Splinter's voice was deviously pleasant. "Young Cody was kind enough to give us a tour of the apartment this morning before breakfast. It is a shame you missed it."

The pair ducked their heads as Serling brought some more pancakes out for them. They glanced at Master Splinter, who nodded, before tucking in.

"Thank you Serling," Venus offered, earning an awkward smile from Leo.

After breakfast as the others broke off, she grabbed his hand.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Venus asked, glaring at him.

"I thought you'd already be in the garden meditating. It was too late to come back for you once Sensei saw me, especially when Don and Raph walked in."

"Yes, well you could have…did you say garden?"

"Err, yeah. Why?"

"Venus?" Cody called, walking over to the pair. "Erm, there's something I'd like to show you, if you're not busy."

She looked to Leo, who shrugged.

"Sure."

She couldn't help smiling when the boy grinned at her, leading her to a set of stairs at the far end of the dining room.

"I heard that you always liked to meditate in Central Park back in your own time, since it was the most natural place in the city," Cody explained.

Venus nodded. Amongst the strangeness of the city, she found comfort in being in the presence of April and Casey's descendant, a presence which, thanks to his genes, she could recognise in such a strange world. She sense his kindness.

"I'm afraid to say the park has changed quite dramatically since your time."

"In what way?"

"Well… they kinda built a giant mall on top of it."

"Oh." The thought of her little safe haven no longer existing stung her a little, which Cody saw as she looked at her feet in disappointment. He felt terrible.

"But there is _something_ a little natural here." He smiled slightly and Venus realised they had come to the top of the stairs. The boy typed a pin into a keypad beside the door, which opened with a beep. Venus was suddenly greeted by a soft glow and gentle breeze, the hum of traffic and people echoing slightly in the distance. She stepped out onto grass and realised she was in a little garden on the roof of the building. A tiny stream ran through the garden into a little pond containing tiny fish. She didn't bother to ask how on earth the stream was up this high, knowing she probably wouldn't understand the answer. There were a few miniature flower beds on one side, while bonsai trees were dotted about in small pots. She turned to lean against the fence that marked the edge of the garden, finding the whole city laid out before her. _How different this is_ , she thought to herself, _to be on a rooftop without the need to hide. I do not need to simply watch; I can go down and join those below. How different to be in a garden so high, above a land of concrete, metal, and electricity. This is certainly not the New York I know, and I hadn't even quite gotten used to the old one yet._

"So, do you like it?"

The voice brought Venus out of her thoughts; she'd forgotten she wasn't alone.

"It's perfect, Cody. I hadn't realised you were such an avid gardener."

The boy looked sheepish. "I'm not, really. Apparently my father was, so I never really wanted to get rid of it. We have someone come occasionally to tidy the place up though. I'm not much of a, what's the word? Horalogist? Herbolgist?"

"Horticulturalist?" Venus answered, smiling slightly.

"That's it. I'm more adept with machines than with nature."

"Well I'm sure Master Splinter and I could teach you something. We should never lose touch with nature since it is from nature we are created."

"I guess," Cody replied, looking a little sceptical. "But check this out."

He went back to the door and entered another code into a keypad outside. There was a soft whirring as what looked like glass rose up in four-pointed pieces from the sides of the garden and above the door, meeting like a pyramid above the garden and sealing them in.

"You can also use this place like a conservatory, so that when it gets too cold or starts raining, you can still use this space. It also means the weather can't damage the garden either."

Venus had been stunned into silence at that. As the pair made their way back downstairs suddenly realised that neither Cody, nor Donatello, knew when they would be able to return to their own time, and so guessed the former was preparing them for an extended stay. She banished thoughts of ' _if_ they returned' as the boy took her for a tour of the rest of the apartment, picking up Mikey in the living room. For the rest of the day, the group lounged around in the apartment while Donnie and Cody fiddled around with the portal generator that had brought them here. They emerged from the lab just before dinner with downcast faces.

"Donnie, you get something?" Leo asked, aware of the tension surrounding his brother.

"Well...no." He slumped down into his chair. "The portal's totally shot. It's gonna take months to repair, if we can even work out how to do it."

"Do not fear my son. I am sure you and Cody will succeed in getting us back home."

Despite Master Splinter's words, a disappointed air settled on the table. Dinner was eaten in silence before the group disbanded, mumbling goodnight to each other before entering their rooms. Venus found herself staring at her room again, knowing she was going to be spending her nights here for the next few months. It was much bigger than her one at home. Her bed was softer too, her duvet slightly thicker. Everything was just a little better than it was back at home, but she would rather be back there in an instant.

The next day, she woke up irritated. She wasn't entirely sure why; she had slept well, perfectly in fact. But she felt a frustration with her surroundings: she really didn't want to be there. She did some stretches, trying to dispel her negativity before venturing into the living room for training. She found Leo already there performing some katas. He went to greet her but froze when he sensed the irritation streaming off of her. One by one his brothers came in, sensing the tension around Venus too. She heard Raphael and Leonardo whispering as she spared against Donatello and Michelangelo.

"Bro, what did you do?"

"What do you mean?"

"How did you manage to piss Venus off so badly?"

"I didn't! I mean, I don't think I did. I'm not sure."

Normally, Venus would have smiled at Leo's confusion, but her irritation was too great, so she instead focused on defeating Donny and Mikey, who seemed wary of her all of a sudden. She thrashed the pair of them in three minutes, 20 seconds.

Venus remained silent at breakfast, picking at the pancakes Serling had made for the group. Mikey wolfed his down in a matter of moments, before eyeing up Venus' plate. He didn't dare ask though, the bruises on his arms from earlier beginning to darken and throb painfully. There was a sudden crash as Raph dropped his fork onto his plate, grabbing everyone's attention.

"Alright, what's eatin' ya up Venus? If it's between you and Leo, then I'll leave ya both to deal with it, but I figure it ain't since you've been givin' all of us the cold shoulder."

Venus stared at Raphael, before glancing at his brothers, who all looked down when her eyes met theirs. But not Raphael. His gaze remained harsh and unrelenting, making her anger increase. But truth be told, she didn't really know exactly why she was angry.

"Raphael," Splinter spoke suddenly, making Venus glare at him too. The rat had not escaped her irritation. "What you lack in tact you make up for in brute honesty." Raphael frowned, causing Splinter to roll his eyes. "I believe I may understand Venus' frustration. Do you remember what she was doing the moment we were brought here into the future?"

Raphael shrugged his shoulders, frowning.

"I believe she was sat minding her own business, reading. Is that correct Venus?"

He looked directly at her, and she nodded.

"So tell me, Raphael, how would you feel if one day you had been minding your own business, after finally gaining some peace and quiet in a city that you were still getting used to, when suddenly you were yanked out of that time and put somewhere completely new and unknown, a place with so little interest for you, all because your family were squabbling over a television remote, something you had barely touched since arriving in the still new city?"

Venus' eyes widened. He'd nailed it on the spot.

"I know that you are not angry with us _personally_ Venus, just with the situation and-"

"And the fact that Cody brought us here without a backup plan of how to get us home again?" Mikey interrupted, at first earning a frown from his father, before he nodded slightly.

"I'm sorry, I never meant for you guys to get stuck here, although I guess I could've found a way to contact you guys before bringing you here." He looked directly at Venus now. "I'm sorry Venus, I didn't realise how different this place would be to the past."

Venus could see the guilt in his eyes and cracked.

"Cody, you do not need to apologise. My behaviour this morning has been…immature. And it is not that there is little interest for me here, but whereas you all see this city as alive with its busy streets and busy people, to me, there is barely any life here since it is so…artificial. If in the future people forget about where they came from, what natural forces made them, whether they are human or alien, then I fear for the future."

"There are still national parks out there Venus," Cody assured her. "The government takes great care in preserving what we have left. I just guess nature is now a show thing rather than something for the everyday."

Venus sighed, not wanting to think about what had become of China in this new age; of her home. She wondered if all the shinobi had died out, or whether there were just a few out there, clinging onto what little nature remained, trying to protect it as best they could.

"I guess you're right."

She took a few more mouthfuls of pancakes before the group stood and disbanded, Donny and Cody to the lab, Michelangelo to the television, Master Splinter and Leo to Cody's personal library, and Serling to the kitchen. Raphael, on the other hand, gently pulled her aside.

"If it's any consolation, I really miss home too," he muttered. Venus cocked a brow at him. "I mean, at least you got Leo here, but Mona, she's all the way back in the past, and don't know where I am, or when we're gonna see each other again. I just wanna let her know I'm alright. Heck, I wanna know if _she's_ okay. It's gonna drive me crazy."

"She'll be fine Raph. She's the toughest lizard I know."

"Ain't she the only lizard you know?" Raph replied, though with a sad smile, before joining his brother in front of the television.

At a loss at what to do, Venus gathered a pile of plates from the table and followed Serling, who jumped at the sight of her.

"Miss Venus, what are you doing?" he looked anxiously at the stack of plates in her arms, as if they might break with one look.

"Just trying to help clean up." She placed the dishes on the side, suddenly worried. "I haven't done anything wrong, have I? I haven't broken some form of future custom?"

"Well, no…it's just, I've never had help with the cleaning before." He was surprised to find the turtle looked shocked.

"Really? Oh, well, do you mind me helping?" She began putting the plates in the dishwasher, something they didn't have at home but April had just treated herself to one.

"Well, of course not, but please don't feel like you have to."

Venus turned, smiling. "Serling, of course I will help. You have welcomed us into your home. I just hope that the others do not break too many things before we leave." She sent him an apologetic look before leaving to get the rest of the dishes. The robot stood watching and smiled to himself.

 _Maybe this one isn't so bad._


	2. Clones

_**A/N - So sorry for the quality of the previous submission. Apparently doesn't like proper formatting (even though it supports Microsoft Word) so I've had to convert my whole document into very basic layout. Thank you to Turtlegirl13 and florjan for pointing this out to me. As a thank you I'll dedicate this chapter to you :) Anyways, apologies for the delay in update. My hectic schedule means chapters will be a little sporadic for the next month or so. From the title you can guess who'll we be seeing in this chapter, but I hope you like my little additions. Enjoy!**_

 **Clones**

Despite her best efforts, Venus did not get used to the future. The dojo proved to be too mechanical for her, and though she could test her physical skills of ninjitsu, she reserved Shinobi training for the garden, limiting herself due to its small size. Her gifts were still strong, but she had met a stalemate due to the lack of space for her to practice _safely_. She could sense, no thanks to her family's 'raucous' behaviour, that she was the most tolerated by Serling, and she didn't want to jeopardise that by sending flames and gushes of water around the living room. She didn't have a lot of time to dwell on these thoughts however; even in the future, it seemed so easy for her family to make enemies.

There were a few enemies, however, that Venus felt deep sympathy for. The Inuwashi Gunjin, with no control of their stasis pods, had been forced to attack them by Darius Dunn. She understood why they took Cody hostage, why they fought against her family. And she knew it was not their fault when Leonardo was electrocuted. She had tried to reach him, but Donatello kept her back.

"This is not a natural energy, Venus", he had said. "You will not be able to control it."

"Donatello, I-!"

"Trust me on this one, and we don't need another team member down."

She struggled against his strength, rushing to their leader once Darius had 'saved' him, his legs giving out. She checked his pulse, finding it slightly raised, whilst a few burns tinged his skin. Leo's eyes were squeezed shut until she began examining his skull.

"I'm all right," he had whispered before she kissed his crown, helping him up and towards the lab. While Donatello checked him over, Raphael spoke of his suspicions.

Later on the moon, the group had shared in her feelings for sympathy. The Inuwashi Gunjin no longer had a place in the world, a bit like the Shinobi and traditional ninja. The Hamato clan had at least adapted their weapons, which contained artificial energy elements. Their weapons from the _past_ would be useless now.

But the enemies that had resonated with her most had been the Kanabo clones.

The day had started fairly simple. The group awoke to their usual morning training, ate breakfast, and then split up to train some more. Raphael, Leonardo, and Michelangelo went into the battle simulator, whilst Venus, Donatello, and Splinter took Cody up on the roof to do some basic defence practice. The boy was coming along well, despite his rather cliché views on fighting. After gently reprimanding Cody over his belief that the body is more important than the mind, Donatello went to join his brothers, leaving his father and Venus to demonstrate some key stretches. Venus smiled at the boy's downcast face.

"This isn't a punishment, Cody," she explained, slowly balancing on one leg, pushing the other behind her while her body and arms leant forward. "A warrior must learn how to both warm up and warm down if they are to avoid injury. Keeping your body well stretched and limber can only make you more flexible too."

"I understand," he sighed. She dropped her pose to lift his leg a little higher, using her other arm to steady his posture. After a few moments she let go, and he held the pose for a whole minute before he relaxed, slowly returning to a standing position. She smiled; it was the first he had held the position for so long and with such control.

"Well done Cody. Your balance has improved dramatically these past weeks."

"Thanks Venus." He suddenly smirked when Master Splinter knelt down to meditate. "So, since I've managed to adapt to your 'natural' methods of fighting, does this mean you'll have a go at the future's technological ones?"

"Well, I wouldn't call stretching a 'natural method of fighting', and I doubt technology would help you warm down after a battle anyway." She turned her head slightly to see Master Splinter watching her, before he dipped his head slightly. She sighed. "But I guess since you've done so well these past few weeks with our 21st century training, I guess it's only fair if I see what the 22nd century has to offer."

The boy grinned, his eyes lighting up.

"Sweet! Trust me Venus, you're gonna love it. All the guys have embraced a little technology into their fighting, I'm sure it'll work out great for you too. Your sword has already proved to be a success, not to mention your breathing regulators."

"I never said I was against all forms of technology," she replied irritably, earning a slight cough from Master Splinter. She rolled her eyes. "Fine, we'll train your way later. But right now, you need to work on your meditation skills."

"But…but why?"

"In case you ever find yourself without your miraculous technology. Mastering qigong will enable to focus within yourself, so if there is a time when you cannot breathe for a while, you won't necessarily die."

She smiled to see the boy's jaw drop.

"Wait, if I can get this right, it means that I can survive without breathing?"

She chuckled. "Well, not forever, but for a little while at least. The most important thing you can do sometimes is buy yourself some time-"

"Which we will run out of soon if you two do not start the lesson."

The pair turned to see the rat's eyes still closed, as if he had never spoken, but quickly sat down nonetheless.

The afternoon was spent trying to teach Cody the art of qigong, Serling bringing the trio a simple lunch of rice and vegetables in the middle of the lesson, since the boys had given up training and were either playing videogames or reading. Afterwards, Splinter gave Cody a little history lesson of qigong, while Venus ventured downstairs. But instead of relaxing, she found that the others were heading out. Leo caught her eye.

"Where are you going?"

"Downtown. We have a suspicion about Darius and we want to try and catch him red-handed."

"Suspicion?"

"We heard Uncle Darius on the phone, planning a surprise for his precious nephew," Raphael answered, growling slightly. "We just wanna see if it's a trick or a treat."

"Want any help?"

"Actually, I was going to ask if you could hang back," Leo answered, seeing her slight frown. "It would help having someone here who could call the authorities if needs be, and to keep an eye on Cody if we run into any trouble."

"You do realise your father's here, right?"

"And who's going to keep an eye on him?"

Her eyes widened slightly in understanding as Leo's brothers looked up at his words. It wasn't that the group didn't trust their father, but the old rat had not taken to this world well, even compared to Venus. And she knew Leo hated leaving him alone.

"Please Venus." Donny pleaded. "We aren't trying to cut you out, it's just-"

"It's alright Donatello, I understand." She placed a hand on Leo's arm, securing him for a moment. "Just don't run into too much trouble."

"Sometimes we can't help it Venus." Mikey called as the three brothers ran towards the doors. "It just seems to follow us."

Venus rolled her eyes, smiling. Leo quickly kissed her forehead before following his brothers out, the faint whir of their hover-vehicle sounding through the living room. Footsteps behind her alerted her to Cody's presence.

"Where are they going?"

She sighed, before turning with a smile.

"Just on an errand. They should be back soon."

"Without you?"

She was surprised that he had noticed the unusualness of her being left behind.

"Well, I told Leo that you were going to train me in the art of 22nd century warfare, and you know how he says 'we must always be prepared'." She stepped forward to lead him to the lab. "Come on, we can get a few hours in before Master Splinter finishes his meditation."

Three hours later, and Venus was stretching in the lab, covered in bruises. Cody had set the bar high for her, giving her various pieces of equipment including a hover-board, a sling-shot that fired plasma blasts, and the latest piece, a watch that when activated, allowed her to defy gravity and grip onto the ceiling. She had failed to master the first two pieces, but the last she had managed to make good headway with, out of sheer determination more than anything. _Maybe if I master one thing he won't make me do this again_ , she thought. The problem was getting used to the limitations of the technology. If she jumped off a building, she knew her own limits when it came to creating a rush of air to slow down her fall right at the last moment. But this was different. With Cody's training, she had to rely completely on the technology rather than herself, meaning that if she over stretched slightly, or moved too quickly, her grip would fail, causing her to fall in a heap on the floor either way. Cody had banned any Shinobi arts during this session; she wasn't sure how guilty he would have felt if she'd ended up with a broken wrist.

The tap of a cane behind her alerted her to Master Splinter's presence, and she could already sense his worry.

"Cody, have you seen my sons?"

"They said they had an errand to run. That was a few hours ago though…"

The pair looked to Venus, who in her determination to get her 'training' session over with, had lost track of time. Something dropped in her stomach.

"Something isn't right. They would have at least called by now."

Master Splinter nodded, and Venus went to get her sword from the living room. She hadn't been allowed that during practice either. When she returned, she found Cody and Splinter arguing slightly.

"The guys have always been there for me, I want to be there for them."

Venus knew it was unwise to bring an untrained child along, but she couldn't break the guys' request either.

"Sensei, maybe it would be good for Cody to come along?" Venus suggested, earning a mild glare. "Even if he simply observes. Besides, I have a feeling that we'll need Serling as a backup tonight, and I don't really want to leave Cody alone, do you?"

Splinter contemplated her words.

"Very well, but Cody…" The boy looked up, and the rat indicated to Venus. "In the absence of your teacher Leonardo, you will stick close to Venus at all times. Do you understand?"

"Yes Sensei," Cody nodded, before running out to get Serling. Venus nodded at the rat's sincere gaze, understanding the responsibility she now held. She knew Leo revelled in being a teacher for Cody; she could see the joy in his face as he trained the boy in his passion, without having to fear whether he was making a mistake or not, since Master Splinter had not once commented negatively on his technique. And it helped that Cody was such a willing pupil, absorbing every single piece of knowledge, every fighting style or technique Leonardo taught him with an eagerness that nearly matched his teacher's. Leo seemed to enjoy the burden of being responsible for Cody, but Venus wasn't sure if she was ready for it.

She was interrupted from her thoughts by Master Splinter's voice.

"This 'errand' my sons are running, is it particularly dangerous?"

"More of a suspicion than an errand," she explained, leading the way out of the lab and to the elevator, where Serling was waiting with the car. "It concerns Darius so the guys didn't want to worry Cody. They wanted me to stay as a phone operator should the need arise-"

"And to watch over us should the suspicion prove to be more substantial."

Her eyes widened slightly, the elevator sinking lower and lower. Sometimes the guys underestimated their father.

"Do not worry Venus," Splinter continued, sensing her apprehension. "I am comforted by my sons' concern. And the fact that they trust you with my life, along with Cody's, does you all credit. If Leonardo can trust you to take command in his absence, then so can I. I have already made too many mistakes regarding both his and your trust."

Venus didn't say anything, the elevator opening to reveal an eagerly awaiting Cody and a miserable looking Serling, both strapped in one of the many cars the boy seemed to own. Venus and Splinter clambered in, the robot following Michelangelo's lone gauntlet signal to a derelict-looking warehouse next to a dodgy looking bar. It was early evening so it was still pretty quiet, but Venus still wanted to avoid the place.

Serling parked around the corner, allowing the group a bit of leeway to sneak into the warehouse unseen. Venus could see Serling's patience running thin.

"Thank you for this, Serling," Venus whispered as Cody followed Splinter's lead out of the vehicle, putting Leo's stealth training into practice. He was doing well. "I'm sorry that we have brought so much trouble into what must have been a fairly peaceful life."

The robot sighed.

"It is alright, Miss Venus. It is a small price to pay for you teaching Master Cody a little self-defence. And after losing his parents at such a young age, the effects of having more 'family' around have been anything but negative. Although I will admit that I do not appreciate certain words he has picked up from Raphael."

Venus smirked slightly. "Don't worry, I'll have a word with him. Or at least Leo will."

"Then allow this to be a thank-you for your help in not letting Cody learn too much too soon," the robot added, before smiling slightly. "And for helping me clean up after mealtimes."

Venus smiled in return, following Cody through an open window at the top around the back of the warehouse. She immediately knew nobody was present, but could sense that the other's had been here.

Cody's tracker beeped behind her, and they soon found Mikey's gauntlet shattered on the floor.

"An ambush," Master Splinter whispered, and Venus wondered if he could smell the droplets of blood that were on the floor nearby. A new presence suddenly interrupted the group, and she wasn't quick enough to stop an alien from grabbing Cody and threatening to eat him.

She couldn't help smirking as the ridiculous looking creature called Master Splinter a mouse, before the rat attacked it. She quickly grabbed Cody aside.

"Disappear. I'll follow soon enough."

The boy nodded, recognising the command as Master Splinter was thrown into the bar next door through the broken wall. Venus jumped forward, sending a burst of flame into the creature's face, before releasing a smoke bomb, using the distraction to let Serling, Cody, and herself get out of the warehouse.

As the smoke died, Venus saw the creature quickly give up its search for Cody as she ran and jumped behind the bar. She was glad to see Cody crouched behind it, watching some tiny form of droid float across the room. Venus watched the ensuing fight between the bar's customer's and Serling, lending a few secret gusts of air to help trip a few patrons over before Master Splinter leapt to stand on the bar itself. She saw Cody fiddling with his watch, whispering to Master Splinter:

"I think I know where the guys are."

Venus looked up at the old rat, who surveyed the room as sirens began to ring in the distance. He then looked at Venus, straight and sincere, and she nodded, understanding her task.

"Then perhaps it is time to see what you can really do, little ninja."

The rat jumped back into the fray just as the police barged through the door. Venus touched Cody's shoulder.

"You think you can manage a stealthy exit without me using any distractions?"

"Of course. Sensei and Serling are already acting as distractions anyway."

"Very good," she whispered, smiling, before leading him out from behind the bar, round behind the officers now questioning Splinter, before silently opening the door for Cody and sprinting after him as he ran down the street. He quickly came to a manhole cover which he tried (and failed) to lift.

"They're underground?" Venus asked, bracing her legs as she lifted the cover. Cody quickly jumped down before she followed down the steps, silently sealing the sewer tunnel.

"I've narrowed their location down to an old pumping station not far from the sea or a sewage works. It's just a hunch from a conversation I overheard, but it's worth a try."

Venus merely nodded, not trying to understand how Cody had gathered said information. She let him take the lead, keeping a constant watch around them as they sped through the tunnels. She stopped sharply, suddenly sensing a collection of presences that were both strange and familiar.

"Disappear," she whispered, only for Cody to shake his head. "What?"

"Time to put a little of _your_ training into practice."

She frowned at his smirk before he activated his watch, a beam suddenly sending him floating to the ceiling. She could hear voices now, and so had no choice but to follow suit, trying not to wobble as she hung upside down in the sewer. A few moments later, four creatures walked beneath them, discussing 'four victims' they had captured before laughing. Venus frowned, their presence similar yet she had never seen such things before. She immediately began to follow them, crawling on the ceiling with Cody behind her, before they came to what she could only assume to be their lair.

The four creatures quickly dispersed inside, she and Cody crawling in a little further to find the guys chained to a wall up off of the ground. Venus could see that Raph and Mikey were covered in angry bruises, while Donny had a nasty gash on his arm, Leo on his leg. All four of them looked absolutely shattered.

She eyed their weapons in a bag not far from them before she and Cody dropped down to the floor, Venus creating a tiny gush of air to slow the boy down slightly as he flipped over mid-air. She saw both relief and worry in Leo's eyes while the others smiled.

"Great job Cody," Mikey congratulated as the boy used a laser to cut his friends' chains. Venus could feel Leo's eyes on her.

"He did well," she announced, trying to not make her comments sound like a report. "He seems to be mastering a perfect balance between ninjitsu and technology, even convincing me to use the latter."

She saw Leo nod slightly before he grabbed his swords from the bag Cody was holding. There was a tension surrounding him that she couldn't place. She stepped forward, inspecting each of their injuries.

"We're fine Venus. Those uglies just got the jump on us," Raphael growled, but stopped as soon as Venus pinched a particularly tender bruise. "Ow!"

"Why do you always insist on lying?" she hissed, before softening her tone. "Come on. I'll get you some ice as soon as we get back."

"I don't think so!"

In the moment it took Venus to turn round at the new voice, Leo had pushed her back to stand in front of her. She immediately held a flame in her palm, confused by Leo's sudden protectiveness. He knew she hated it.

She peered over his shoulder to see a yellow and orange creature with a giant lolling tongue holding on tightly to Cody, the latter's face full of fear. She cursed herself for not sensing a new presence quickly enough, _again_.

"Guys!"

The creature's voice was similar to Mikey's but more grated and raspy, making his seemingly jokey nature appear a little insane. She forgot all about him though when three more creatures, each bigger than the last, each armoured with a mixture of bone and metal, stepped into the chamber: one purple, one red, one blue. She gasped as she sensed familiarity once again.

"Don't move or the boy loses his head."

She stared at the blue one, his voice deeper than Leo's but containing the same resonance. Except her Leo would never make such a threat.

"Let him go, it's us you want," Leo replied. "Don't hurt him."

"Oh, don't worry, he won't."

The group stared in shock as Cody managed to flip the orange creature to the ground, darting out of the way before Don, Raph, and Mikey ran forward to attack. The creatures got ready to defend themselves before freezing. Venus turned to see what they were staring at before she realised it was her.

"The boss never told us there was a girl turtle," the red one growled. "How come we ain't got one?"

"Cause it's impossible to make a girl who looks as ugly as you!" Raphael yelled in return, leaping in the air to kick the creature full on in the chest. Despite Leo standing in front of her Venus suddenly felt a chill run up her spine. She could feel the creatures were watching her every move despite their own individual battles. The blue one in particular seemed very focused on her, making her feel vulnerable despite Leonardo's fearsome presence. The latter growled.

"You stay away from her," she heard him say, before launching into a full attack.

Venus tried to ignore the way her body tensed at his words, focusing on the others instead. She saw Donatello struggling slightly against the purple creature's blade, so she sent a plume of fire in his direction, Donatello sensing it before quickly moving aside. The blast sent the creature to the ground, allowing Donny to finish the fight. But she felt eyes on her once again, the blue one frozen still, staring at her, giving Leo a chance to knock him out completely.

The next thing she knew, rocks were falling from the ceiling, and she quickly shielded the group whilst their clones ran away.

"Dammit!" Raphael yelled, striking the rocks. "We almost had 'em!"

"Let them go," Leo commanded, his voice suddenly sincere. "We need to have a little chat with Darius."

Venus tried to work out his expression before Leo suddenly put an arm round her shoulders and led them out of the tunnels to the nearest manhole cover. The group remained silent as they headed towards O'Neil Tech tower, heading straight for the communal floor where they found Master Splinter, Serling, and surprisingly Darius Dunn waiting for them, the latter soon describing his 'shock' at hearing how the former two had been arrested.

Venus could tell the guys didn't believe his story concerning Cody's comic book surprise, and neither did she. When the man left, Leo went to give his report to Master Splinter while the guys crashed out on the sofa, Cody retiring to bed.

"Er, Don, what just happened?" Mikey asked, rubbing his wrists. Venus only noticed now how all of them had welts where the chains had been. She quickly went into the lab and grabbed the first aid kit, and then the kitchen for some ice, giving Raph and Mikey some of the latter before wordlessly applying antiseptic to their wrists, gently wrapping them in thin bandages.

"I'm not entirely sure. Your clone said something about 'tissue'. Darius must have somehow got a hold of samples of our DNA, although I don't think he's got the brains to create such creatures."

"Maybe he knows someone?" Raph replied, nodding his head in thanks to Venus as she wrapped his wrist before going over to sort out Donny's.

"Perhaps, but even so their resources must have been highly sophisticated. They weren't just clones of our physical genetics, but our psychological ones too. They had some of our characteristic traits, some of our memories, including our training. This was cloning on a whole new level." He winced suddenly as Venus cleaned the gash on his arm. It wasn't deep enough to have caused a lot of blood loss, but it was messy.

"Then how come there wasn't a Venus clone then?" Mikey asked, causing to pause her wrapping of Don's arm.

"I don't know," Don replied, now addressing Venus. "To be fair, you haven't had as much interaction with Darius as we have, like Splinter, and there wasn't a clone of him either. Or maybe your blood is just impossible to clone. Remember how even the Utroms couldn't replicate it?"

She did remember, along with the coma she was in and the training she had had to endure afterwards.

"Jeesh, let's keep you away from the creep," Raph commented, smiling slightly when he sensed Venus' tension. "We don't want a totally ugly and jacked up shinobi fighting with those freaks."

Venus let out a small snort, finishing tending to Donny's wound. The trio let out massive yawns, and she struggled to stifle one herself. It was late.

"Right, go to bed, all of you. I'll replace your bandages in the morning after you've showered."

Don frowned. "But what about-"

"I'll deal with Leo. You three are shattered and need to get some sleep. You can discuss the situation with him in the morning."

Raph smiled, stretching his arms as he stood up. Since they'd been together, Venus had managed to subdue Leo's demand for instant information unless the situation had been absolutely dire. Leo could wait until tomorrow to find out about all this cloning and genetics, not that he'd really understand any of it anyway. Raph was also glad that Venus was slowly morphing into the matriarch of the clan, a title that came with being in a relationship with the clan leader. Not that she had seemed to have realised this.

"But-"

"Come on brainiac." Raph ordered, pushing Donny out of the room. "This way you'll have all night to dream up some mad theories about the whole thing."

Mikey chuckled as he followed his brothers out.

"Night Venus, and thanks for the rescue and patch up."

"Night," she replied, before sitting in an armchair, antiseptic and bandages at the ready. It was nearly an hour later when Leo emerged into the living room from the study, looking beaten and worn. Wordlessly Venus guided him to the chair before tending to his wounds, Splinter bidding the pair goodnight. Neither turtle spoke as Venus cleaned and wrapped his wrists before moving onto his leg. He winced slightly, the wound having festered a little after having to give his report. But Venus didn't comment. She merely washed and wrapped the wound, tidied the kit away, switched off all the lights, and led the way to the bedroom corridor, kissing Leo's forehead before going into her room. She quickly stripped herself of her gear before clambering into bed, the mattress enveloping her in comfort. But despite her fatigue an anxiety, a fear, still gnawed at her. She lay tossing and turning for a good hour before she finally succumbed to her mind. She crept out of her room, silently closing her door and opening Leo's, finding him resting but not fully asleep. She carefully shut his door and stepped forward, her boyfriend immediately opening his eyes and sitting up, recognising her presence…and her fear. He pushed the covers back slightly and shifted over, giving her some room to climb into his bed before he replaced the covers on top of them and wrapped his arms around her. She felt suddenly ashamed; she was strong and independent, she had fought hundreds of battles both with and without help. But as soon as one of those…things had looked at her with such inhumanity, with such primal instinct…she suddenly felt unsafe, vulnerable, and she wanted nothing more than for Leo, _her_ Leo, to take her away from that place.

She turned into his embrace, tucking her head underneath his chin. She wasn't owned by anyone, and she knew Leo would never be so possessive over her; but the fact that he had been protective tonight meant that he too had been afraid, even if for a moment.

He responded by tightening his arms around her, his legs intertwining with hers whilst his lips rested on top of her head.

"You're safe," he whispered, his fatigue making his words slightly slurred, but he tried to say them nonetheless. "You're safe and I'll keep it that way, just like you'll do for me. That's the deal."

Venus nodded, finally closing her eyes and letting herself be lulled by the soft beating of his heart. She ignored the fact that the creature had absolutely defeated Leonardo when he'd been weapon-less, that he'd only been able to knock it out completely when she had inadvertently distracted it. She ignored everything and focused on his promise, his breathing, his heat, the fact that it just felt _right_ to be sharing his bed. And for a few weeks afterwards, she felt safe.


	3. Engineers

_**A/N - Hey guys! So turns out I'm terrible with updating on . It's been nearly a year since my last update :( I've had a crazy few months and have been trying to work on an original novel so have been using my FF as more of a practice and writer's block-fixer rather than focusing on completing. However, you'll be pleased to know (hopefully) that I have have finally finished this part of my TMNT story, which will continue to be split into two parts: the first containing snippets based in the Fast Forward season, the second going back to my original story line, after the events of Back to the Sewer.**_

 _ **Anyway, I've edited this part of the story and so plan to upload it all today and then publish it in stages over the next couple of weeks. Since this is the first chapter in a while, I want to dedicate it to all my readers that have stuck through my hiatus and have been messaging me or commenting on my chapters despite my absence. And as ever thank you to the fabulous Leax, who I have horribly neglected and not messaged in a while. I hope this is a nice surprise for you!**_

 _ **And for everyone else, enjoy! :) This snippet is Cody and Donatello focused. Hope you like it!**_

 **Engineers**

He'd been selfish. They'd been blasted into the future, forced out into the open, and been attacked by new enemies. None of this had directly been his fault, but he'd still been selfish.

The fact of the matter was, Donatello had _enjoyed_ being in the future, and the luxuries that had come with it. In the future, he could walk down the street freely and investigate the newest technology available to him. He could go to university if he so desired, gain official qualifications for skills he'd been developing his whole life independently. He could get a little recognition for his achievements; could make an impact in the scientific and engineering communities. By being 100 years in the future, Donatello could experience luxuries that were basic human rights in his own time.

Yet it took the near destruction of his brothers, of _himself_ , to make him realise that he'd been selfish. He'd been subconsciously avoiding the teleporter, deliberately procrastinating by familiarising himself with every other bit of tech in Cody's lab, identifying which stemmed from April's influence, and recognising those of his own. Meanwhile he had been assuring his family that he was close to replicating the conditions of their arrival; that they should be home soon. Only after the clone's attack had Donny realised that every time he gave this story to his family, this _lie,_ Cody had avoided his eyes. He was still suffering guilt all because Donny preferred living in the future; in its comforts and freedom.

He could even walk into a shop and buy a sandwich. If he wanted.

Enough was enough. He'd been irresponsibly ignoring his family's desire to go home, not to mention the physical dangers of them staying here for too long. Now he was sat in the lab, staring at the machine after spending a good six hours reading through every manual Cody had, every article the internet could offer, on teleportation. 100 years ago, such research wouldn't be possible. Yet it still didn't seem to be helping him.

And he was the only one that could get his family home.

"Donny?"

The turtle spun his chair round to see a mop of red hair peering at him from the doorway.

"Serling says dinner's ready."

Don nodded. "Yeah, I'll be up in a bit. Tell them to start without me."

"Leo said that if you say that, you have to come up anyway."

 _Damn. You are too perceptive, big brother._ The turtle couldn't ignore the smirk on the boy's face.

"Sounds like you've skipped meals before."

Don narrowed his eyes. "Occasionally. It happens when I get caught up in a project. Or stuck on one." He turned back round to the teleporter. "Tell Leo that left overs will be perfectly adequate, as long as Mikey doesn't get a hold of them before I do."

He settled his mind back to solving the issue of the device before him when he heard footsteps.

"What are you stuck on?"

Don let out a deep sigh. "The same thing since we got here: How to get my family home. I've looked everywhere for some kind of theory or research from other people's experiments, but there's nothing! If I don't come up with a way to fix this teleporter soon, we could end up stuck here."

"Well, do you have to fix it?"

Donny turned back round and stared at the boy. "We can't stay here Cody, no matter how much I'd like to. And it's not just because we have somewhere else to be. Us being here is altering our own timeline. We need to back to ensure the equilibrium of time; to get back to April and Casey, and our other friends, to ensure the safety of their timelines too, and yours. We've been thrown into messes of time before, and they never end well. I should've started working on this weeks ago."

Cody stared at him.

"Well, I kinda knew all that Don. But why do _you_ have to fix it?"

Don blinked at him. "Because it's my job. Whenever we get into some kind of scrape like this, it's my responsibility to get us out of it. I don't know if you've met my family but they aren't exactly 'tech-savvy'."

"I dunno, Mikey's pretty good with the gaming system. And the music system. And the TV system - "

"Systems that he's _interested_ in. Anything else goes straight over his head. Besides, you've never asked him to _reboot_ the gaming system. Believe me, no one in this apartment can be remotely helpful with this teleporter. Raph's pretty good with vehicles, but anything small or that requires a lot of reading is way beyond his patience. Venus hadn't even lived with electricity before she met us, and Splinter barely touched anything technological until I started tinkering with stuff in our old lair. And don't get me started on Leo: the guy just has to look at a toaster and it'll explode. 37! 37 toasters we've been through! Trust me, it's better if I fix this on my own. I don't want anyone 'helping' and then just wasting more time because I have to fix whatever they've inadvertently broken."

Cody let out a small laugh at that, which confused Donny. Then the turtle cringed.

"I've just spent the past five minutes basically insulting you, haven't I?"

Cody rolled his eyes. "Well, I suppose you are used to being the sole tech-bod on your team. It was an easy mistake to make. But there's no excuse for skipping meals, Don. You'll have an empty brain if you've got an empty belly."

Donny smirked. "One of Serling's phrases, I presume."

"Actually he got it from my father. Apparently he used to moan at my mother for not eating whilst working."

"Sounds like Master Splinter. I was just thinking about the coordinates system though. If _we_ could wipe it clean and then rewrite it from scratch, maybe it would reset the system?"

He saw Cody's eyes light up.

"Yeah! But by backing it up onto a mega-drive, we could always merge it with the new system I was developing if it doesn't work on its own. I think Starlee might have some mapping software that could save us a load of time."

Donny nodded, grabbing the hard drive while Cody began to set up the teleporter's computer.

"There's not much I can do, Master Splinter. I looked in on the lab, asked the pair of them to join us. Then _commanded_ them both to join us, but it was like neither of them heard me." Serling paced the living room floor while the rest of clan watched, comfortably full after another excellent meal served by the robot. "I'm afraid young master Cody and Donatello make for a self-destructive combination."

"Don't sweat about it Serling," Raph offered, picking up one of the rare paper magazines he'd managed to find in future New York. "Donny's does this all the time. He gets stuck on a project, lives off coffee for a few days, maybe a week, and then sleeps for two days straight. He's back to normal right after that."

"Yes, well I wouldn't exactly call that a normal habit."

"Serling, please do not think that we encourage Donatello to behave in this way," Master Splinter explained. "It is just that…he can be very _determined_. And once he gets his head set on a certain project, it is very difficult to sway him."

"Yeah, and with Cody helping him, Donny's finally got someone to really geek-out with," Mikey added. "Just think about how much they can talk about without boring us in the process."

Master Splinter glared at his son before turning back to a very worried Serling.

"But Cody is only young. He needs to eat…"

Leo suddenly stood up.

"I've got an idea," he announced. "Come with me Serling."

Silently confused, the robot followed the turtle out of the living room towards the kitchen.

"Of course he's got an idea." Raph grabbed another magazine. "When does he not have an idea?"

"But what is the idea?" Mikey asked, looking towards Venus. The female turtle settled her legs back onto the sofa.

"I don't know. Maybe some ancient limb-locking move to force food down their necks?"

Mikey stared at her blankly. "I'm pretty sure that's called torture."

"Or ungentle persuasion."

Raph snorted. "Well Leo's probably good at both so either way, Don and Cody are gonna eat."

"And you're sure it will work?"

"Always does at home. Don never remembers eating it, but the plate's always empty when I go to refill it."

"But what's so special about a sandwich?"

Leo smiled at the robot. "Finger food. He can grab it, take a bite with one hand while the other continues typing, and then put it back down for a while without it going cold before he takes a another bite. The ultimate convenience food."

"And you just refill the plate twice a day?"

"Yep, and leave him a coffee a couple times too. He usually thinks he's just made it himself but forgotten about it. He doesn't seem to mind it cold."

"And you've been doing this for years, without your brother or the others noticing."

"Yep."

"How?"

"Ninja stealth."

Leo smirked as he walked away from the robot towards his bedroom, the others having gone to bed, leaving Serling to puzzle over the leader's admission. He'd need to get some more bread tomorrow.

While grabbing one of the many textbooks the pair had consulted that night, Donatello came across two plates of sandwiches sat on top of their book pile.

"Hey Cody, you want tuna fish or pastrami?"

"Huh?" the boy answered, scrolling through data sat on the hard drive. Donny rolled his eyes and shoved a pastrami sandwich into Cody's hand, which he took a bite of before putting it back on the plate, his eyes never leaving the screen.

Donny bit into the tuna sandwich, spotting a note on the plate.

 _Don't ignore Serling again. It's rude._

He frowned at it, but a sudden beeping from Cody's computer had him dropping the sandwich and rushing over. Some success at last; the pair smiled, without seeing the sun's imminent rise over the city.


	4. Warm Colours

_**A/N - Next chapter is here! I'm really trying to keep the updates consistent, at least for part one of this part of the story. I hope you're enjoying it so far. This next chapter is Mikey and Raph focused and was really tricky for me to write and took a lot of editing, so any feedback would be fabulous :)**_

 _ **Enjoy!**_

 **Warm Colours**

"Hey Leo, up for some sparring?"

"Sorry bro, I'm running through some split kicks with Cody this afternoon. You're welcome to join us, though. Give him a second opinion or something?"

"Oh, no, it's okay. I'll leave the teaching stuff to you."

Raphael watched his brother smile and then lead his young charge into the VR dojo, already eagerly going over today's lesson. Usually Raph felt sorry for Cody; he'd had years of Leo's classes himself. Though there hadn't been many recently.

He turned to see Master Splinter heading towards the elevators.

"Hey, Master Splinter!" Raph called over before catching up to his father. "Is there anything else we can practice from this morning's training session? I think some of my jumps could do with a little work."

The old rat smiled quizzically.

"I am glad to see some enthusiasm for your training my son, even with so many distractions surrounding you in this advanced world. But I am afraid I have plans for this afternoon: Venus and I are going to redesign the roof garden. Cody found some of his father's plans for it and has given us permission to enact them…"

As if on cue, Venus emerged from the bedroom corridor, a sun hat perched on her crown. She smiled at Raphael.

"I apologise my son. Besides, it is your _landings_ that you need to work on." The old rat turned as Venus stepped towards them. She looked confused. "I'm sure one of your brothers would be more than willing to help."

"See you later Raphael, unless you want to join us?" Venus offered, but Raph shook his head.

"Err, thanks for the offer, but I'll leave to flower arranging to you." He waved at the pair as they alighted the stairs, before letting out a sigh.

"Desperate times call for desperate measures."

Five minutes later, Raphael was entering Cody's lab, keeping his mind as open as possible.

"Hey bro. Having fun?"

"If you're bored Raphael then I suggest you take your sarcasm elsewhere."

Raph snorted at the answer, noting his brother hadn't even looked up from the base of the teleporter.

"Yo, I was tryna be nice actually. I was wonderin' if you needed any help with anything."

The wires in Donatello's hands were suddenly still as the purple-banded turtle looked up. Raph tried not to laugh at the goggles on his brother's face.

"You really are bored, aren't you?"

"Hey! At least I'm offering my services. You need anything lifting, or moving, or bashing? Or even just like, watching?"

"Raph, I appreciate the 'kind hearted offer', but I'm actually doing some pretty delicate work here so what I need is peace and quiet, not a bored brother who's going to want to make conversation all afternoon."

"Jeesh thanks Don. Nice to know you value your family's company."

"You're one to talk!" Don answered, standing up to face his brother properly. He removed the goggles masking his eyes. "How many times have you sneaked out on your own? Or skipped out on a movie night to patrol with Casey? Or hang out with Mona?"

Raph glared at his brother, earning a scowl in return.

"Donatello, I found the component you were looking for. It was at the back of Master Cody's 3rd storage room." Serling wandered into the room and immediately sensed tension. "Erm, would you like me to help you configure it into the teleportation system or should I-?"

"That would be very helpful Serling, thank you for your _genuine_ offer."

The robot stayed silent, making his way to the teleporter. He wasn't going to get involved.

"Oh I see," Raph grumbled. "You'll happily hang out with a giant tin can, but not with your own brother!"

"Raph, come on! I'm doing important stuff here. I need to focus, and Serling isn't going to be asking me questions every two seconds, unlike you. And he actually has some semblance of _how_ to be helpful." Don looked exasperated. "Look, why don't you go and find Mikey? I'm guessing you only came here because Leo, Master Splinter, and Venus are busy. I'm sure the most energetic of our clan would be more than happy to keep you entertained."

Raph shook his head at his brother and stormed out, leaving Don to roll his eyes and get back to work.

Frustration bubbled inside Raphael. How could it be that everyone had something to do except him? He couldn't remember the last time they did something as a family, except for their missions. What happened to actually talking to each other?

He stormed into the living room, greeted by the sounds of his youngest brother defeating yet another fleet of armed robot ninja generals singlehandedly.

"Take this you cold hearted ninja, and this, and this! You shall never beat Michelangelo-Sensei! Where your hearts are made of cold metal, mine beats with the fierce courage only a real turtle can possess!"

"Yo, 'real turtle', you still playing that stupid game?"

"No time to talk, Raph. I've gotta beat this legion of metal warriors in the next 30 seconds to beat my record. I'd let you help, but my skills are just too quick for you to comprehend."

"I don't wanna play you're stupid game! Jeesh, what's a turtle gotta do around here to get a little conversation!"

"Dude, can you keep it down? I'm tryna focus here."

Raphael let out a frustrated roar.

"Okay!" Mikey squeaked. "And I'm pausing the game, I'm pausing the game, I'm pausing the game, and…progress saved. Now I can deal with my brother's temper tantrum."

He sat down on the couch and stared at his brother. Raph threw himself down in a chair opposite.

"I can't believe this! I try and hang out with at least _someone_ in this family, and you and Don think I'm being a child!"

"Well, you do seem to be acting kinda clingy," Mikey replied. "It's okay to spend a little time on your own once in a while."

"I know, but we never seem to do _anything_ anymore. And if I have to play another videogame, or read another digital newspaper, I'm gonna scream."

"Bro, we hang out all the time-"

"Missions don't count. How about doing stuff that doesn't potentially put our lives in danger?"

"I didn't think we knew how to do stuff like that," Mikey smirked, earning another growl. The younger turtle rolled his eyes. "Woah bro, lighten up. You wanted conversation, you got conversation. Why are you tryna fight it?"

"This isn't conversation. This is you tryna stop me from complaining."

"Fine, you wanna talk? Let's talk." Mikey crossed his legs, giving Raph his full attention. "What do you wanna talk about?"

"I dunno, anything! How the Knicks are progressing this season. How the amateur fights are getting way better than the professional ones. How-"

"How you're missing home way more than the rest of us, even Venus?"

"What? No I'm not."

"Dude, your topics of conversation are all things we _can't_ talk about right now. They're all things from our New York."

"Yeah, well, a little nostalgia don't hurt nobody."

"It does if it stops us from adapting to the present."

"Hey, don't go all fortune cookie on me."

"I'm just sayin' that it's okay to miss home. But you gotta give the future a chance."

"I have, Mikey! I'm just so sick of it all."

"Have you though? Look, okay, you don't wanna play videogames all the time, and I'm guessing Don didn't want your help in the lab. But what about Leo? Did he say you could help him train Cody?"

"Well, yeah, but teaching's his thing, you know?"

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you couldn't help him out a little. You could've helped Cody _and_ spent time with Leo. Big bro would probably love to share the whole teaching-experience junk with you. What about Sensei?"

"He and Venus are sorting out the garden or something."

"Why didn't you go with them?"

"Because I ain't a florist Mikey. Looking at plants ain't my idea of fun."

"Only because you've never done it before. Look, this is what I mean. You can't always do what you want and spend time with the people you want."

"Yeah, don't I know it."

Raph sank down, folding his arms and scowling.

"Listen dude, I know you miss home. I know you miss the lair, hanging out with Casey, your room, your punching bag, your weights. And you definitely miss Mona. But you gotta realise you aren't the only one."

"Oh I dunno. Lover boy seems very settled in."

"Don't you think he deserves it though? I mean, come on Raph. Leo and Venus _should_ have the chance to sort things out and settle into everything. These past few months have been real rough on them. Why, you think he's shoving it in your face?"

"No! I just…I didn't even get the chance to say goodbye her, Mikey. Mona's gonna be worried sick, and then real pissed off that I just disappeared. What if she thinks I've run away and left her?"

"What, to live a life of crime with your father, three brothers, and one of their girlfriends? Come on bro, she's gotta be smarter than that."

"Yeah, I know. But Leo and Venus get the chance to have a normal relationship here. They can go out and do stuff, spend time together without having to sneak around. Go on dates. I'll never get that chance with Mona."

"Yet Leo and Venus still haven't actually done any of that, have they? I wonder why."

"I dunno. Look Mikey, I appreciate the effort you're putting in here, but the truth is, I'm never gonna be comfortable here. At home, a sewer full of brothers means you can't get away from each other. But I'd take that chaos over this self-inflicted separation any day."

"Jeez Raph, who knew you could be so sensitive?" Mikey teased.

"It ain't funny."

"I know, but it's weird. When you think about all the times you used to sneak out, or hang out with Casey or Mona, or go and have a strop in your room, or argue with Leo-"

"You got a point somewhere there, Mikey?"

"All I'm saying is that you've never really wanted to spend time with your family in the past, so it's weird that you're getting so ancy about it now."

"I've spent time with you guys!"

"Yeah but never in the happiest mood, though. Think about it, when we were kids you were always blunt with me and Donny, and arguing with Leo. And then getting in trouble for sneaking out on your own. As soon as we met Casey, you started going out a lot more. Now with Mona it's nearly every night!"

"Always after patrol though."

"Dude, you just said that missions don't count."

Raph scowled.

"Look, we're all happy for you, and we get that sometimes you need time alone, or at least away from us and the lair. We haven't got a problem with that. That's why Don shuts himself in the lab, Leo trains, Sensei meditates, and I play video games. We've been a family for over 20 years and have always managed to escape each other whenever we needed to. The difference I guess is that we've always been happy to spend a Friday or Saturday night in watching a movie or having a game tournament, or at least sitting together while I read a comic, Leo a book, Donny some kind of manual. We've never got that vibe from you."

"What, so you think I've been…aloof or somethin'?"

Mikey blinked at him. "If 'aloof' means that you like being on your own, then yeah."

"You're a great psychologist Mikey. Ya really know your stuff."

Mikey stood up.

"What?"

"I'm going for a walk, and you're coming with me."

"Why?"

"So that we can get your moody butt outside and moving. Sensei always says fresh air is the best way to stimulate the mind."

"Does he?"

"I don't know, but it sounds like something he'd say. Come on."

"But-"

But his brother had already pressed the button for the elevator. Raphael let himself be dragged inside and onto the street.

"Where are we going?"

"Dunno. I'm just following my feet."

"What?"

They walked towards Central Park Mall.

"I ain't in the mood for shopping, Mikey."

"Did I say we were going shopping?"

"We're in a mall."

"Yeah, a mall that's got a movie theatre, bowling alley and…an art gallery!" He pointed upwards to a sign before dragging Raphael into an elevator.

"What kind of mall has an art gallery?"

"An amazing one."

"But you hate museums!"

"Only when they're boring. Who knows what art of the future looks like?"

"Art ain't exactly my forte."

"Neither's talking to people but you still do it every day."

Mikey avoided a swipe from his brother and smirked. The elevator opened up into a white clean space at the very top of the mall. On the walls were small pictures of scenes done in what looked like graphite pencil.

"Well there you go. Art is still just as bad as it was back home."

"You just can't appreciate artistic flair."

"I will when I see some."

The two turtles ventured further inside Mikey looking at each picture in turn and Raph ignoring them.

"You know, you could at least try and look interested."

"Mikey, I don't do art."

"Even when it's about home?"

"What do ya mean?"

The hot head stepped over to his brother to look at one particular picture. It looked like Staten Island.

"Huh, would you look at that."

"Told you art could be interesting."

"Maybe, but this Statue of Liberty pic is all wrong." He pointed at the next picture. "I mean, her face ain't like that."

"I wanna know what they're using to draw these."

"I think they still got pencils in the future bro."

"Very funny. If you actually use your _eyes_ you can see that they're textured. Like they're made from grit or something."

"Very astute."

Mikey shrieked when they heard the new voice. Turning round, they saw a bright yellow, four armed creature stepping towards them.

"The term 'grit' is a tad incorrect. It's actually shavings of metal uniquely placed using special magnets."

"I take it you're the artist," Raph grunted, only to be interrupted by Mikey.

"Magnets? That's awesome!"

"Would you like to try? I'm thinking about making this an interactive exhibition."

Before Raph could complain, Mikey was eagerly nodding and following the creature through a doorway to reveal an airy studio. There were jars of metal shavings, thin sheets of white metal, and varying sizes of magnets stacked along the walls.

"Each thickness of shavings requires a different size magnet. I firstly sketch the scene out with a magnetized pencil, choose which shavings I'll need, and sprinkle them on top size by size, shaping the scene step by step."

"So cool."

Raph couldn't help but smile at his brother's enthusiasm.

The artist gave both turtles a pile of supplies which Mikey immediately began using. Raph stared at his.

"Not an 'art person'?"

"Huh? Oh, no, not really."

"Art can be anything, that's the beauty of it. You've just got to know what you want to create."

"That's the difficult bit."

"Why don't you look through here?" He gave the turtle a large photo album. "They're pictures of New York throughout history. They've inspired a lot of my exhibition here."

The artist smiled before going to chat to Mikey, leaving Raph to flick through the book. He hadn't been impressed with the guy's depiction of his city, but some of these pictures were pretty bad. He found four right at the back set in his own time. Two were pretty blurry, the Staten Island one included, and there was the Statue of Liberty one. The clearest image was of central park: one of the bridges surrounded by trees. Raph looked over to his brother throwing himself into his sketch and wondered how on earth they'd ended up in here.

 _Here goes nothing…_

Three hours later, the brothers were shaking hands with the artist.

"Thanks for letting us hang out here today," Mikey said, clutching his drawing under his arm. He'd finished it pretty quickly and enjoyed using the magnets; he made a mental note to ask Donnie if he could set him up with some magnets back home.

"No problem boys. I'm glad you've enjoyed yourselves. In all honesty, I think you're rather talented."

"Thanks dude!"

Raph smiled at the guy. "Thanks for wrapping our pictures as well. Sorry we were here for so long."

"Nonsense! The magnets take a while to master and your sketch was particularly detailed. It was as though you were there in Central Park 100 years ago!"

"Haha, yeah…thanks for the help though."

"No problem. It was nice to collaborate on a project. Creating art can sometimes be such a lonely process."

"I hear that."

Raph frowned at his brother.

"Thank you for letting me scan your pieces. They'll take centre stage when I open the interactive part of the gallery. Enjoy your evening."

The boys waved as they stepped out of the gallery. The large roof windows revealed the night sky to them. Their phones immediately began buzzing.

"How much do you want to bet that's Leo?" Mikey asked.

"Not a very fair bet now, is it?" Raph replied, smirking as he read the new message on his phone. _Where are you?! You know check-in is 3 hours!_

"I thought it was 2 hours?"

"It will be now."

"Maybe we should suggest that everyone should come to the mall for some food. All that art has made my legs hurt."

"Sitting on your ass for three hours has made your legs hurt?"

"The body works in mysterious ways."

"I'm not gonna ask. Anyway, we should probably head back. I think Venus offered to make dinner tonight and I don't want to offend her by suggesting we eat out."

"True."

The boys moved into the elevator.

"By the way, what did you mean by 'I hear that'? When the guy said that art was lonely."

Mikey began fiddling with his nunchaku.

"Oh nothing really. Just thought it would be easier to agree." He shirked under his brother's stare. "Look, it's true alright? Art is lonely. Whenever I make comics or posters or whatever, I always have to do it in the peace and quiet where no one is going to come and see my sketches."

"Well, that's not just about art being a lonely pass-time is it?"

"It is though because I can't share what I make."

"Sure you can!"

"No Raph, I can't. It's too personal. It's like Leo with his calligraphy. He's been practising it for years and has got stacks of notebooks filled with the stuff. But he won't share it with anyone because he's such a perfectionist."

"Way to state the obvious. How do you know about it?"

"I may have snuck into his room one day looking for his secret supply of chocolate and one of the books may have 'fallen' off the shelf. It's really good."

"I never took him for the arty sort."

"That's probably why he never shows us, though I reckon he and Venus have been practising together."

"Probably. But Mikey, this ain't gonna be like that. As soon as we get home, we're gonna present our pictures and hang them up."

"Really?"

"Sure. I ain't got anything to lose. I ain't exactly the new Monet, am I?"

"No, I guess not."

They stepped out of the lift and headed for the mall's exit, breathing the cool night air.

"And hey listen Mikey, if you ever want to show me one of your pictures, just let me know. My eyes are always open."

"Except for when you blink."

"Well yeah-"

"And when you're sleeping."

"Mikey…"

"Thanks bro."

The pair walked past various street vendors, O'Neil Tech's sign shining high above the city.

"By the way, did you ever find Leo's secret stash of chocolate? I thought it was just a myth."

"Bro come on. This is _Leo_. He probably doesn't even know where he's hidden it."

"Fair enough, just didn't think there was a food you couldn't sniff out."

Mikey paused. "First mission when we get back home is to find that stash. Agreed?"

Raph grinned. "Agreed."


	5. Return of the Clones

_**A/N - So... I am so glad to finally be able to upload this chapter. I wrote it a few YEARS ago (can't believe it) and have come back to it quite a lot, tweaking and editing until I finally felt it was okay. It's based around the episode "DNA is Thicker than Water" which is one of my favourite 2003 episodes and actually inspired me to write a Fast Forward based fic. Now that I've actaully started publishing these chapters, I can finally upload this particular one. As usual, any feedback would be absolutely amazing and I'll do my best to get back to your questions. But for now, I really hope you enjoy this chapter. I loved writing it and I'm so happy it finally gets to see the light of day.**_

 _ **Enjoy! :)**_

 **Return of the Clones**

What was supposed to be a simple training session soon turned into chaos. Venus had smiled when she first put on her blindfold, earning a wink from Leo. He was really settling into being a sensei for Cody, but she knew he had chosen blind fighting for a reason. Once, the four of them had been quite skilled in the technique, but over the years the guys had let this ability slip, apart from Leo, of course. He also knew that Venus was perfectly adept at it, her father not only having taught her to sense her surroundings rather than just see or hear them, but her ability to feel the energy around her made it easy for her to tell not only if someone was nearby, but who. So naturally, she stood back to let the guys stumble around, Leonardo hiding, before stepping forward to hover amongst the group. Venus effortlessly dodged a gentle swipe from him, smiling when he silently brushed her neck. Leo then moved around Cody, silent, to see if he could find him. Unsurprisingly, he did not, only striking at Leo when it was too late. She laughed when she heard yelps of pain from the others, lifting her blindfold to find them in a pile while their father looked on in despair. Then the alarm rang out.

The penthouse defences were a giveaway that something was amiss, but none of them suspected that a large aircraft would appear, carrying the four doppelgangers. Three of them jumped down onto the roof once the lasers were taken out, charging at the group. Venus at first stood frozen, before Leo's order to defend woke her up. She drew her sword, keeping her strikes swift and quick to avoid a direct attack; they were much stronger than her. But no matter how quickly she moved, she could feel their eyes on her, could sense their confusion and…?

The blue one stepped forward to attack but she dodged, sending a kick into his face before twisting away. But his strength allowed him to rise quickly and grab her by the arms, lifting her up in front of him. She felt her forearms burn at the pressure. She suddenly met his yellow eyes, unreadable, so different from _her_ Leo's which mirrored a stormy sea. He was gazing at her, as if inspecting at her.

"Darius told us he would us he would clone you. He told us the next time he encountered you, he would snatch some samples."

Venus felt a chill at the base of her spine before anger set in. _No one_ had the right to make her feel that uncomfortable. Growling slightly, she swiftly surged her head forward, head butting the creature who dropped her out of surprise. She leapt away swiftly, finding that her arms were bleeding slightly from small puncture marks due to the creature's claws. She tried to ignore her sudden fuzzy vision.

"Then why aint we got one of her still?" the red one growled out. Venus scowled, making out his massive foot above Donatello's leg, about to crush it. She snarled, sending a blast of air his way mixed with a few droplets of water. The creature cried out as he was hurled to the other side of the rooftop before the water crystallised at his feet, holding him in place. His brothers looked on in shock while he pushed his torso off the ground, his feet frozen to the floor.

"Because your pathetic master could never make another one of me."

She stood tall as she said it, blinking her vision clear again. She turned to find Leo smiling at her with pride while Michelangelo sniggered.

"Oooh, burn. You want some ice for that? Oh wait, you've already got some."

The red one growled and shifted his feet. A crack resonated in the air as the ice shattered. He grinned.

"You might want to get a bigger freezer, sweetheart."

Venus refused to let the fear return, even as he surged forward and swiped his hand into her chest. Cries of "Venus!" echoed in the air as she flew backwards, dropping her sword whilst the fight continued, soon smacking into the roof edge's railing. Immediately she tried to control her breathing, seeing Mikey and Raph go down as well thanks to the blue one and orange one, the former suddenly stalking towards her. The strike had winded her, making it difficult for her to move away before the blue one grabbed her by the shoulders. He sneered at her.

"With skills like yours, my brothers will finally be able to destroy your pathetic family, and we could break free of Darius Dunn."

She turned her face away from his, feeling a warm dribble of blood trickle down her plastron thanks to the three large claw marks that lay there from the red one. She tried not to shake.

"Let her go! Venus!"

She saw Leo in her peripheral vision, trapped underneath the red one's foot while it held Donnie and Master Splinter off, the orange one doing the same to Raph and Mikey.

"Perhaps we could make multiple clones of you, and create a new mutant clan all of our own. You guys believe in the importance of family, don't you?" His sneer suddenly disappeared. "I wouldn't let them hurt you."

Venus turned her head at his sudden soft tone, and could see the sincerity in his eyes. But behind him, she saw the red one grin again, this time at Cody as he sent Splinter and Donnie flying to the side. Leo quickly scrambled up and raced towards her.

"No, Cody!"

She twisted her wrist to send a blast of cold water into the creature's face before struggling out his grip. He turned and saw Leo's movements.

"Cody! Look ou-!" Leo's warning was cut off by a strike to the head by his double.

"No, no, no! Not the boy you mook! Stick to the plan!"

She had not been expecting the blue one's sudden anger, but wasn't surprised when an argument soon ensued between him and the red one, the orange one soon joining in. She took the opportune distraction to quickly run over to a wide-eyed Cody and take his hand.

"Be silent, little ninja. You must call the peace-keepers."

"But I-"

"Cody please, there is nothing you can do here except get some back up. That is what we need right now."

The boy nodded, and she dragged him across the rooftop, the three creatures engaged in a solid argument whilst fighting. If she could at least get him inside then the clan could focus on defeating the clones. The pair weren't far from the door when suddenly the creature's airship appeared above them between the garden conservatory and themselves. She didn't hear what the purple one said as the laser struck the ground and began tailing the boy. She just pushed Cody behind her, stepping back until the roof's railing halted their path.

She summoned a tiny barrier and sent it flying towards the laser. It shattered immediately, a tiny puff of smoke being the only evidence that it had existed. The noise made the others turn.

"I can't defend against it. It's not made from a natural energy!"

The panic in her voice made her cringe when she saw all four of _her_ turtles and Master Splinter scramble towards her and Cody. Her heartbeat increased when each of them were knocked aside by the orange and red clones. The latter's laughing gripped her chest.

"No Miss Turtle for us, so no Miss Turtle for you," the orange one smirked. "And at least the kid'll get fried too. Hmm, I wonder what human flambé tastes like."

Leo struck out again, only to be slammed into the ground by his double. There was a crunch and a yelp from Leo. He tried to stand but was quickly held down by his shoulder, the creature's grip tight.

"Venus, move!" Leo cried out. Venus tried to ignore his slightly slurred speech and slower reaction time. "Get out of there!"

There was nowhere to move. The laser would follow them, whether they moved as a pair or if Cody sprinted on his own; the purple one would strike one of them either way, and Venus wasn't sure who the target was. She wasn't going to risk the boy's life. This wasn't his fight.

"Venus!" Leo panicked, fiercely trying to twist but his double was too strong. He turned his neck slightly. "Please! Please don't do this. Let them go! They haven't done anything to you, they're innocent."

"They're your affiliates, and therefore one of you. I don't care if she's special to you, or he a child."

"But _I_ care!" Leo cried. "And that should-"

"I am NOTHING like you!" The creature roared, smacking the back of Leo's head so hard that he saw stars.

Venus could hear the others, could hear Leo's pleas and the strikes his body was taking. She could also hear the lack of conviction in his clone's voice. The confusion did nothing to settle her panic. Trying to block them out, she turned and braced herself in front of Cody as much as she could, hands gripping the railing in front of her to steady herself.

"I'm sorry Cody," she muttered, and the boy wrapped his arms around himself, resting his head against her bleeding plastron. She could see him biting back tears.

"Venus, you don't have to do this-"

"Cody, this is a fight you should never have been involved in. I am so sorry for that. It is my job to protect you. The guys know this, and we owe it to April and Casey. Besides, never underestimate the strength of a mutant turtle's shell." She offered a small smile before turning her head slightly. In her periphery she could see the continued chaos. She gripped the railings tightly. "As soon as the beam hits me, move." She turned back to his wide eyes. "Ignore me if I yell, you just run as fast as you can. Use the distraction, get inside and hide. You will be safe, I promise."

She wasn't sure if the boy would be able to do it, to use the time between her getting struck and the purple one moving the beam on to the boy to escape inside. But she had to give him a chance. She slowly released her right arm from the railing, providing him a gap to sprint through when the moment came. She could feel him shivering and longed to calm him down, but she couldn't. Instead, she twisted her neck in order to face the others again, terror white on their faces during their futile struggles. She couldn't turn her eyes away from Leo, despite the laser's blinding light.

"Please."

She saw him mouth the word, rather than heard him speak it, helplessly pinned to the ground like his brothers and father. She could feel the heat from the beam now, only seconds away. She turned back to Cody, whispering 'get ready' as the heat began to sear at her shell…when a flash of blue in her peripheral interrupted her thoughts. She turned to see the blue creature standing in front of the pair, arms behind him slightly to shield her, before the laser struck. She heard him cry out, felt the burning heat, and then watched as he fell to the ground, limp and lifeless.

Frozen, she simply stared at his body when the creature's brothers began to run, jumping back into their airship. A random anger struck her.

"Wait, come back! Come back and help your brother, you…you cowards!" She shouted towards the ship, now flying off into the city, before kneeling down at the blue one's head. She checked his pulse, which seemed a little erratic, while his breathing was dangerously shallow. Donatello immediately ran forward, scanning him for injuries, while Raphael began ranting his doubts.

"We can't leave him out here Raph, he'll die!"

"That's the point! You think he'd do the same for us?"

"Leo would!"

"That thing ain't Leo!"

"Er, guys!"

The call from Mikey had all three of them looking over: their leader was still on the floor, clutching at his forehead while their father inspected his skull.

Venus sprinted over, cradling his face. He immediately moved to envelop her in a hug.

"You're safe. I've got you, you're safe."

She nodded, ignoring his slurring as he lent into her bleeding chest. "I'm fine. We both are. They're gone and we're safe." She kissed his head. "We're alright Leo. Leo?" He went limp in her lap. "Leo?!"

His eyes were shut, tight in pain. She saw blood on his crown.

"Donatello!" Sensei's voice was tight.

The genius limped over. "Concussion."

"I'm not surprised," Raph commented, clutching his arm. "His clone gave him a right beat down. But of course, they're basically the same turtle."

"Not now Raph. Serling, could you-"

Wordlessly the robot picked up their leader, whose eyes began to open and close at random intervals.

"Leo?" Venus tried to ignore the confused look on his face as Serling took him towards the infirmary.

"Now for the clone-" Donny was quickly cut off.

"I ain't helping that freak!"

"Raph, don't do this. We can't leave him here."

"Donny, look around. Your brothers and father have just been whacked about by that crack pot while he tried to kill two of your friends. You really wanna help him?"

"I mean, it wasn't just him," Mikey added.

"Not now Mikey!"

"Hey, don't snap at him!"

"Don't change the subject!"

"My sons-"

"He tried to KILL us Donny!"

"And then he saved Venus and Cody. We owe him!"

"My sons-"

"Well, if they hadn't attacked in the first place, then they wouldn't technically have been in danger."

"Thank you Mikey."

"You just yelled at him for getting involved!"

"Yeah, because he was agreeing with _you_."

"MY SONS!"

The guys fell silent.

"I understand that you are all injured and exhausted, but in the absence of your brother's authority, this is a decision you must make _together_ , utilising his wisdom."

"Sensei, it's because of this creep that we don't currently have Leo's 'authority'."

"You really think Leo would leave him out here to die? After what he just did?"

"Leo ain't in a fit state to think."

During the bickering Venus looked up to see Cody staring at the unconscious body while Mikey tried to calm his brothers. None of them were in a fit state to move the creature, and Sterling was downstairs helping their leader. Where they all should be.

Ignoring the argument, Venus encouraged a gentle sweep of air underneath the clone and lifted it. Cody's eyes went wide before he quickly ran over to open the door for her. She blocked out the guys' talking to her, concentrating on moving such a large weight through the air and down into the infirmary. She could sense Splinter close behind her, and when she placed the creature on the bed opposite Leo's, he was the one who caught her as she fell back. Her heart was racing as the guys rushed in, but she didn't hear any of them, only letting them sit her next to their leader and grasp his hand. She was relieved when his eyes flickered open, though she saw he was in pain.

"I'm sorry-"

"Shh... save your strength. It's been a long morning."

"Are you okay?"

She couldn't lie to him, but she didn't really know herself.

"I feel better than I look. Maybe like you." Serling offered her a damp cloth and she began cleaning his crown. "I think we'll all sleep well tonight anyway."

"And the clone?"

She moved aside so that he could see it in the bed opposite him, being hooked up to machines by Donatello. She could that he and the rest of the clan were listening to their conversation.

"Good. We couldn't abandon him. Not after his family did so to him."

Venus smiled.

A few hours later, the group all had clean and dressed wounds and a hot meal in their stomachs. Leo surveyed his family; Donny had given him the all clear after he'd done some reading exercises from a good distance away and some mental arithmetic. They were exhausted.

"Everyone needs to get a good night's sleep. We'll discuss our options tomorrow." He stood up slowly, his family watching him. "I'll take the first watch, and then-"

" _I'll_ take the first watch," Donny interrupted, "and then Mikey, and then Raph, and then I'll run a full diagnostic in the morning."

Leo nodded in silent appreciation. His headache was creeping back now that the painkillers had worn off. Everyone was injured but he didn't have the energy to disagree.

Everyone went to their rooms while Master Splinter accompanied his son to the infirmary. Venus carefully washed without irritating her bandages before going to her room and falling asleep.

That night was the first night that Leo went to _her_ bed. She sensed the door open, felt warm arms wrap around her waist and stomach as he clambered under the covers. He kissed her cheek and neck, whispering 'I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry. I could've lost you'. She shook her head, turning to meet his lips with her own.

"But you didn't," she had replied, and kissed him again. He clung onto to her, his touch desperate as she silently tried to calm him down. She kissed his tired eyes, willing him to go to sleep as she returned his tight embrace.

He slept soundly, she was glad, and for once didn't awake with the dawn. She actually awoke first, her head using Leo's chest as a pillow as he lay sprawled out on her bed. She smiled up at him, admiring his face that had always managed to remain unscarred despite the marks of battle that covered the rest of his body. She held her gaze for a few minutes before slowly getting up, strapping her gear on, and silently closing her door, heading up to the roof for her pre-training meditation. She found Master Splinter waiting in the garden, trimming one of the bonsai trees. He eyed the bandages on her arms and chest before greeting her.

"Good morning Venus. I hope you are feeling better."

"Yes Sensei, I'm a lot less sore," she replied, sitting down on the floor.

"And your chest?"

"It still stings if I move too quickly, but Donatello said the cuts should heal within a couple of days."

"Good. Will Leonardo not be joining us?"

"He's still asleep Sensei. I didn't want to disturb him since he was a little…spooked about yesterday."

"Yes…I think we all were, but I suppose he is the most suspicious." He cocked a brow at Venus' frown of confusion. "Given that we do not know of his double's intentions yesterday afternoon."

"What do you mean, Sensei?" Venus asked, the rat pausing in his trimming of the little tree's leaves.

"My sons believe that Leonardo's double stepped in to save Cody since they have no quarrel with the boy, which he may have tried to do. But he only decided to step in when it was clear that you weren't going to step aside. Do you find this curious?"

"I find it a little terrifying," Venus replied, earning a chuckle from the old rat.

A week later, the group were stood around the blue one's cot, waiting for him to wake up. He did so with a growl, locking eyes with Venus. She saw them widen slightly before he glared around the room.

Donatello greeted him, Leonardo offering him food, both of which were abruptly turned away as he winced in pain. Raphael growled.

"You wanna know how I know this is all an act?" He hissed, causing the group to stand silent. The creature tilted his head, indicating that he was listening, still looking away. "Because despite you saving Cody, my brothers and I have still got some nasty scars and bruises." He then pointed towards Venus. "Do you _know_ what you did to _her_ arms?!"

Venus was directly in the blue one's eye line. He looked at her now bandage-less arms; the punctures weren't that deep and wouldn't scar, but the muscle was still very badly bruised, displaying an angry purple colour and making simple things like lifting things and opening jars very difficult. He glanced at the now faint cuts on her chest before looking down again.

"That is how I know that you're just pretending, cuz if you had a sudden epiphany when the kid was being threatened, then why the hell didn't you have one when you met other turtles of ya own blood?!"

Raphael stalked out of the room, the blue one not responding to him. The others soon followed, Leo stepping towards Venus, gently leading her out of the room. She saw Cody had been listening at the door and ruffled his hair as they left when he had the graciousness to look sheepish for being caught snooping. No doubt he was curious about the matter. She tried to stay her own curiosity, however, focusing instead on Leo's gentle breathing next to her and his steady grip on her shoulder as they walked into the living room.

At dinner though, suspicion still raged through the air.

"I know he's faking it, I just know it. You wouldn't attack your own blood and then sit plain and still, patiently listenin' to those you were just tryna kill, ya know?"

"We get it Raph, you don't trust the guy," Mikey replied through a mouth of rice.

"I don't just not trust him. The guy's a creep! Strutting around, pretending he's some mighty and powerful leader, too proud and honourable to deal with the likes of us, when his own team, his own _family_ , just betrayed him. He ain't got nothin' to be proud of! He ain't a leader compared to his counter-part; at least Leo's never made us try and assault Shredder's lair in a full frontal attack like these goofballs did to us."

"Raph, is that _almost_ a compliment?" Leo asked with a raised brow, earning smirks from Mikey and Don. Raph scowled at his brother.

"All I'm sayin' is that you ain't a bad leader compared to that creep. And I've never seen you fake an injury."

"No, you just fake _not_ being injured instead, because that is _so_ much better," Mikey added, pointing his fork in Leo's direction. The leader glared at him, going to speak when both Raphael and Donatello crossed their arms, brows raised. Leo sighed in defeat.

"Whatever, I'm not going to win this argument either way."

"Very sensible, fearless," Raphael replied.

"Your counterpart isn't entirely faking though," Donatello began, finishing up the last of his chicken. "His injuries are extensive; the beam, being such a concentrated force of artificial energy, caused severe trauma to his muscles. He may not have any broken bones, but scarred muscle tissue and cartilage can be just as serious. He's in a lot of pain."

"I don't give a crap whether he's in pain or not!" Raphael growled, ignoring the glare from his father. "That son-of-a-bitch attacked our home and nearly took down Cody and Venus, after him and his freaky brothers tried to wipe us four out just a few weeks ago!

"But think Raph," Donny continued. "If a creature that size with that amount of muscle and shell could have sustained such terrible injuries, then imagine what kind of damage Cody could have suffered, or even Venus? They might not even be alive right now if it weren't for him."

"If he and his team hadn't attacked this place in the first place then he wouldn't have _needed_ to step in, would he? This is all some jacked-up plan to try and take us down from the inside, I know it. And we're just letting that psycho sit in there, all safe and warm and smug, because you guys are letting his plan work. He tried to kill us! How am I the only one who is pissed about this?!"

"Raphael, enough."

The group turned to face the rat, sat at the head of the table. He had fixed a stern gaze on his hot-headed son, who shirked under his eyes.

"Calm yourself, my son. Believe me, we all hold anger with this imposter. But we must ask ourselves, were he and his brothers trying to destroy us for their own sake, or for another?"

"Sensei?" Leonardo asked, confused. Master Splinter smiled at him.

"Leonardo, I believe that there is nothing you wouldn't do to protect this family. I believe you would all make great sacrifices to protect each other, but as leader, it is Leonardo's duty to do so. As it is your counterpart's." He looked round to see all of his student's sitting with wide eyes; the message was sinking in. "This creature may be a bad person, but only because he has been _conditioned_ to be so, and I suspect he was _ordered_ to destroy us at any cost, lest he should want his brothers or himself to be severely punished. And so, if any of you were placed in that situation, what would you do? We all know what your brother would do, and so it is only fair to say that, since they share a certain amount of DNA, that his counterpart would do the same."

The group sat in silence around the table, absorbing their sensei's words. What he said made perfect sense, but it didn't make accepting them any easier. A rough growl suddenly shattered the silence.

"He's still a total whack-bag."

It was late. The group had retired for the evening to their bedrooms. Venus sat alone on her bed, trying to meditate without much success. Leonardo had wanted to spend the night with her again, as he had done every night for the past week, but she had politely said that she just needed a little time to think things over, and would appreciate a night alone. Leonardo had of course accepted her answer, but she could see the anxiety and hurt in his eyes as he said goodnight; he didn't want to leave her alone. She appreciated the concern but she really needed to calm her mind: it was too busy to settle down for sleep, curiosity gnawing at her conscience. She should just ignore it, detach herself completely from the situation. But she couldn't, and she knew that she wouldn't be able to until her curiosity was satisfied.

With practised silence, she crept out of her bedroom and through the apartment to reach the laboratory, only to stop when she heard voices.

"Why did you save me?"

She could've killed the boy for being so stupid. How could he sneak down here to confront the creature? She would have dragged him away if she wasn't trying to do exactly the same thing.

"I don't know. It just didn't seem right."

She waited with baited breath, hiding in a doorway as she heard Cody's footsteps. It seemed he was learning fast though, and soon sensed Venus hiding from him. She couldn't help but be impressed, but had to be stern.

"Cody what were you thinking!" she whispered, glad to see him ducking his head slightly. "You know how dangerous that creature is."

"In the eyes of some Venus, you and the guys are 'creatures', and your skills definitely make you 'dangerous'. Should I avoid being alone with you too?"

Venus paused. Shock passed over her face, causing Cody to balk slightly.

"Venus I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to…I mean I…I just wanted to see him. I wanted to understand why he saved me." She saw the worry in his face. "But I guess I've been kinda stupid."

"How so?"

"Well, I made all this effort to try and understand the guy, but I haven't said thank you. To _you_."

Cody's eyes were wide and repenting. He'd snapped at Venus, a talented warrior who just happened to be his master's girlfriend and essentially matriarch to the clan, but he'd done it after she'd tried to save his life. She'd always been so patient with his training, and yet he couldn't spare a moment to listen her (justified) reprimand.

"I mean, you saved my life out there. Well, you would've done, if-"

"If Leonardo's clone hadn't stepped in. But as Donatello said, considering the damage a giant like him sustained, I probably would not have been much protection for you, young one."

He took her by surprise by suddenly wrapping his arms around her in a hurried hug. She placed a gentle hand on his head.

"You do not have to thank me, little ninja. It is my duty to protect you. The others would've done the same. You saved them the last time we encountered these cre-…these clones. But I must question your sanity in coming down here alone."

"I know." He released her, wiping his eyes with his sleeve. "I just…wanted to talk to him. He doesn't seem so scary when he's trapped behind a forcefield." Venus let out a bemused snort. "Why were _you_ down here though?"

Venus stopped smiling. Busted.

"I…I came here to…to…Well I guess I've been rather judgemental on him, so I thought I would attempt an observation of his character. Like Donatello would do." Cody crossed his arms. "But the difference is that I am an adult that is highly skilled in both martial arts and shinobi practices." He tried to smirk but she wouldn't let him. "Off to bed little ninja. Don't make me tell Serling what you've been up to."

"But-"

"I'll be fine. But if you tell Leo, I will make sure some of your favourite inventions spontaneously combust."

Cody nodded, before scuttling back upstairs.

Once he was gone, she stepped forward to peer round the corner. The creature appeared to be sleeping, his shell facing her. Her fear spiked again: she was glad to be able to put on a brave face around Cody. She wouldn't be much of a role model if he'd seen her shaking. But this was suddenly difficult. She let out a deep breath and turned around; she couldn't do this, she couldn't talk to the thing that was supposedly related to her boyfriend and yet was so unlike him. She couldn't-

"It wasn't part of the plan, you know."

She froze at the sound of his voice, slowly turning to see the creature sat up right and looking directly at her. She stepped forward to allow herself to be completely in the room, but his gaze didn't wander from her eyes. It wasn't filled with hate or confusion, but rather, regret. The tension and fear she had previously slowly melted away, for a moment at least.

"You guys had a plan? All I saw was a chaotic mess," she replied, attempting a smile, but only receiving a deadpan face in return.

"I mean it. It was never the plan to place you or Cody directly in danger."

"Just my family," Venus replied, smile gone.

The creature glared at her.

"My brothers and I will destroy our counterparts, you can trust me on that. But I don't want you, the rat, or the boy to be harmed. You are innocent, despite your meddling last time."

"Well that makes me feel so much better. You can wipe out the only things I love in this forsaken world, but as long as I'm alive and kicking, everything will be alright."

"You know you wouldn't be totally alone in this world, not if you didn't want to be."

The words had been so quiet that Venus almost didn't hear them.

"I'm…I'm sorry?"

The creature dropped his head, a faint blush colouring his cheeks.

"I just meant…my brothers and I, we wouldn't let you…not if you wanted…"

"How dare you." She was glad to see his head snap upright. "You may share DNA traits with Leonardo, but you know _nothing_ about me."

The creature frowned.

"So the pair of you are definitely…"

"Yes, and believe me, after the trials we have faced, there is not much in the world that will be able to shake us, much less a masochistic psychopath who after attacking our home believes he can offer something for me as he threatens to destroy my family."

"I didn't mean-"

"I don't give a damn what you _think_ you meant. I appreciate you not letting your brother wipe Cody and I out, but if you thought that act of 'bravery', whether it was planned or not, could buy you some brownie points with me, you really are as insane as Raphael thinks you are."

She turned to go, her sweating palms warning her to not let this go too far, when he called out.

"I didn't do it to save the boy." He looked imploringly at her. "Surely you must realise that."

She didn't move, only sighed.

"I had hoped that _he_ was the reason for your sacrifice, both for my sake, and for yours."

She then left, ignoring her pounding heart as she sprinted back to her room, full of fright and adrenalin. She felt both sad and uncomfortable in the creature's company; an unknown guilt settled on her chest: It wasn't as if those four creatures were truly alone. In this more modern and open world, they could easily merge into society, find ones who would return any such feelings unto them. They just had to escape the influence the darkness held over them.

She stayed away from the creature completely for the rest of his stay while the guys reviewed his health. She would never call her boyfriend a fool, but she wondered at Leo's logic in trusting the creature's change. Whenever the blue one did manage to catch her eye, he would offer the closest thing to a smile that he could, which she would start at and swiftly turn away from. Instead she made a point to spend as much time with Leo as she could, the pair sharing a bed every night now. She could see that he was a little surprised at her sudden increase in affection, but she could also see the smile that formed every time she made her way towards him. By nearly constantly being around Leo, she could shut out the terrifying presence that lay only a few metres away, the presence that both frightened and confused her. One night, the pair of them sat watching a trashy movie in the lounge, Venus cuddled up to Leo's chest since everybody else had gone to bed. Her eyes began to droop when suddenly Leo stood up, heading towards the lab.

"Where are you going?" Venus asked, rubbing her eyes against threatening sleep.

"I just want to talk to him."

Her eyes went wide. "What? Are you crazy! Leo, he could-"

"He won't do anything. To destroy us isn't his sole purpose anymore."

He turned to give a very confused Venus a smile.

"Are you going to explain your logic to me or leave me guessing?"

Leo chuckled. "Whatever you guys say, Donnie is right. He does share traits with me. And I know that if there was a rift in my family, and I was sat being healed and helped by a group that seemed so in tune with each other and _at peace_ , I know that I would want to run home and fix my own family."

Venus returned his smile. "Oh Leo, you always see the best in people." She stood and pressed a long kiss into his mouth before hugging him tight. "I think he just wants them all to be free though."

He released from the hold, taking a step back.

"How do you know?"

"Just something he said to me…that day. He said that they could finally destroy you and get rid of Darius if they had a clone with my gifts. But I reckon if given the choice between the two, he'd take the latter. He knows we only act on the defensive when they're around, not the offensive like they do. And it's not a fight they've chosen to make."

"Now who's seeing the best in people?"

She gently smacked his arm.

"It's called intuition. But what on earth are you going to say to him?"

"I'm going to give him a choice. Wait for me here, okay?"

He turned away and walked towards the lab, Venus sitting back down. He wasn't gone long, and she could tell something was playing on his mind.

"What have you done?" She asked as he turned off the TV. He grabbed her hand and led them to the bedroom corridor.

"Something either brilliantly clever or incredibly stupid. Come on, we need to wake the others. I have a plan."

Venus admitted that she thought Leo had been incredibly stupid rather than brilliantly clever in leaving the security controls with the creature, and she despised his plan should the blue one not act how Leo expected him to. However, she knew his logic had heart, and agreed to play her part, hiding in the upper dining level that overlooked the lounge. She waited while Leo's plan began to play out, hearing the tell-tale hum of an airship landing. When she heard the voices of the two leaders, she immediately stood up and looked over the bannister to the living room, surprised to see the pair fighting so ferociously.

"Leo?"

Her voice immediately caught the attention of the blue one, who looked up, and in that moment of distraction, Leo managed to land a solid kick in his chest. The creature quickly retaliated, sending Leo crashing to the floor with a swipe of his fist. Immediately Venus leapt down to the lower level and stood protectively in front of him.

"It doesn't have to be like this," the blue one pleaded, holding his arm raised but not striking her.

"Leo gave you a choice and you chose this. Until you leave Darius Dunn behind and try and make your own lives as community-friendly citizens, then you will only ever choose this."

A grunt sounded behind her as Leo tried to get up, clutching at his chest.

"But I want-"

"You cannot always have what you want." She snapped. "Life isn't about _taking_ , it's about earning, learning, and looking out for one another. We already tried to show you that."

He looked at her with pleading eyes, and suddenly her anger, and her fear, was gone.

"Leave this place. Take your brothers, and go. But stay away from Darius Dunn. He may have had some financial involvement in your development, but he does not own you."

The creature considered her and then roared, lunging straight for her. It was not the reaction she had been expecting but she quickly dodged, sending a gush of air towards him as she leapt into the air. Leonardo then stood and the pair of them beat the creature back before kicking him through the hanger door and into the battle occurring in front of their ship.

She saw the blue one freeze at the sight of his brothers being beaten by their counterparts, Cody, and Serling. He looked back towards Leo, who stood strong, his swords drawn, while Venus mirrored his image next to him. They stood together, a unit, something that couldn't be broken. The creature turned away, immediately arguing with his siblings again before forcing them into the ship, retreating.

Venus didn't know what happened to the creatures after they left. Her family quickly returned to bed after the night's events, Venus following Leo into his room, which earnt a view raised brows from his brothers before they too turned in.

Leo began stripping his gear off before Venus spoke.

"Why did you have me up there?" She asked.

"I needed to use you as a distraction."

"But why would I be a distraction?"

"For the same reason he saved you." She went to speak but found herself silent. "For the same reason _I_ would have saved you." He stood up and rubbed her forearms.

"But I was afraid…"

"I know, but you overcame that fear and talked some sense into him. I knew that if any of us could get through to him, it would be you. With the other three, you're interesting mainly because of your gender. But that one, he was made from my DNA _after_ I fell in love with you. It only made sense that he had some feelings towards you."

"Then why didn't you give me something important to say? Something that could have made him stay?"

"Because I needed it to come from _you_ , and I didn't necessarily want him to stay. I wanted all four of them to realise that there was more to life than fighting for survival. The best way to do that was to go straight for the leader, and you did just that. What you said about Darius was just brilliant."

"But then he attacked me."

"Probably because he was hearing a truth he didn't want to accept. Were you afraid then?"

"No," she replied, realisation hitting her. "No I wasn't."

"And why not?"

"Because I knew he had no control over me. He was just a puppet whereas I am my own person, with my own life."

"Yes you are."

He smiled at her warmly, removing his belt. He paused though when he caught Venus staring, her eyes flashing mischievously.

"Venus. What-?"

He was cut off when Venus suddenly lunged at him, pushing him to the bed and desperately claiming his mouth. His eyes went wide with surprise but he soon responded with the same passion, rubbing her neck and earning a hum of approval. He helped her remove her own gear before trailing kisses round her neck as she panted above him, her touch becoming desperate and needy. Then something clear sparked in his brain and he suddenly rolled the pair so that he was on top of Venus, who stared at him wide eyed for a moment, Leo being surprised by the move himself. And then she smiled at him, her eyes warm yet coquettish, and he let instinct take over.


	6. Date Night

_**A/N - This is quite a cute, Leo/Venus-centric chapter that explores the opportunities the pair have in the future. It was so adorable to write and hopefully gives the pair a chance to be 'normal' after all the drama from my previous stories ;) Hope you guys like it!**_

 **Date Night**

Despite other dramatic incidents and the over-hanging question of whether they would ever go home again, Leonardo seemed to have a constant air of happiness to him, something that didn't go unnoticed by his brothers. His eyes lit up whenever Venus entered the room, he smiled openly at her whenever she spoke, even when it wasn't directed at him. He even seemed dreamy eyed whenever she was contributing to a battle plan or strategy, something that made his siblings smirk at each other. So they weren't surprised when Leo turned up in the lounge one evening wearing a blue waistcoat, smiling shyly towards his siblings.

"Erm, I'm going out."

He earned a monotone "'kay" from Donatello as he lazily turned the page of his magazine.

"I'm not sure how long I'll be gone, but I shouldn't be too late. Master Splinter knows, he's gone to bed already."

"Okay. Have a nice time fearless," Raphael offered, not looking up from the videogame he and Mikey were playing.

Leo let out a loud breath, rolling his eyes.

"I'm taking Venus out on a date."

"Oooh, and he finally admits it!" Mikey suddenly cried out, pausing the game. "You owe me five bucks Raph!"

"Dammit, he's dopier than I thought," Raph growled, throwing the controller down.

"This is why I didn't bet against Mikey." Donatello stated, putting the magazine on the cushion next to him. "Leonardo's emotional state has been abnormally public lately. I had no idea what he was prepared to admit."

"Wait a minute, you made a bet that I wouldn't tell you guys I was going on a date with Venus?" Leo asked, incredulous as the guys sat grinning at him.

"No, it was a bet that you wouldn't talk about her at all." Don answered. "You know, since you haven't really spoken about your relationship since we got here."

"Well, I didn't want to ram it down your necks or make the situation…" He glanced at Raph.

"Awkward?" Don finished for him, earning a nod from the leader. "Listen Leo, we're all happy for you, really we are."

"But I-"

"It's alright Fearless," Raph began, getting up to address his brother. "You can talk about it around me, which I can see you've been desperate to do."

"I just…you guys are my brothers, I'm _supposed_ to talk to you guys about this kind of stuff, and get your advice, I get it. It's just that Venus and I haven't exactly had a 'normal' relationship given everything that happened before we came here. And I know you miss Mona-"

"I do miss her, and I hope that she misses me. But it doesn't mean you have to hide your relationship from me so that I don't feel bad, or from Mikey and Don cuz they don't know anything about being in one."

"Hey!"

"Well actually-"

"Don, you haven't spoken to Jhanna in years. It doesn't count."

Leo turned to see Don go to speak again before thinking better of it and shutting his mouth. Leo rolled his eyes.

"But you guys already know I'm dating her!"

"Yeah we know, you've made that perfectly clear these past few weeks," Raph replied, cocking a brow. Leonardo crossed his arms.

"Listen, I don't know what you've heard, but what Venus and I do in private is none of your-"

"He was talking about you acting like a lovesick puppy Leo!" Mikey cackled, Leo immediately turning scarlet as he saw Raph and Donny go wide eyed.

"Well I'll be damned," Raph began, grinning. "Bushido-boy finally got some. No wonder he's been smiling the whole time." He then cocked his head slightly at his brother. "You have done 'it', haven't you?"

"I, err, well, it's really none of your…" He stopped when Raph raised his brows at him. "Erm, yes."

"Haha! I knew it! I knew it all along. No way someone can be that happy all the time on 'feelings' alone." He saw Mikey roll his eyes at him. "Hey, what would you know about it? How do you think me and Mona manage to stand each other's company so much?"

"TMI!" Mikey cried, covering his ears as Donnie snorted. Raph turned to find a wide-eyed Leo staring at him.

"What?"

"You never told me that you-"

"Why _would_ I tell you? I hardly needed your permission, did I?"

Leo still stared at him. "We'll talk about this later."

"Heck no we won't! You ain't giving me 'the talk' Leo. A.) I certainly have more experience than you in that department, and B.) It's too little too late. Besides, I know what I'm doing, and it's not as if anything can freak out Mona. She's the most level-headed chick I know. Part of why we get on so well together."

"Have you ever told her that, Raphael?"

All four turtles turned to the doorway and froze as a version of Venus they hadn't really seen before stepped into the lounge: She was wearing a long, floaty white Kimono-style jacket decorated with cherry blossoms and gold cranes while the tails of her mask had been tied together in a long braid. Her face seemed to glow slightly, especially when it caught the light. Raphael shook his head when he saw Venus' lips move, realising she was trying to talk to him again.

"Sorry, what?"

"I said, I'm sure she'd like to hear those words Raph. I know she's tough but everyone likes to hear a compliment now and then."

"I do compliment her."

"On something other than her-"

"Yeah, okay maybe you got a point." He turned to see Leo still gawping at Venus before cocking a brow at his brothers, who smirked back at him. "You might want to get going on your date, Shinobi, before Fearless starts drooling."

Venus' giggling brought Leo out of his trance like state. "What?"

"Your brothers were just saying how nice they thought I looked. The only other time I got to get dressed up was at the O'Neil Tech annual gala and that evening didn't exactly end as glamorously as it started. Shall we go?" She offered her arm for Leo to hold. He looked back towards Raph, Mikey, and Don, who each winked at him, before smiling and taking her arm.

"I thought we could walk there, since it's such a nice evening…"

The remaining brothers heard their leader's voice fade away as the pair entered the elevator before they began laughing.

"The guy can't talk about 'stuff' yet he can silently kill a man with a single twitch of his wrist," Raph snorted, sitting back down again. "He really is the most innocent lethal warrior in the world."

"I think it's cute," Mikey stated, grinning. "It's weird to think this is technically their _first_ date. Feels like they've been together for ages."

"Yeah well they can't exactly walk into a swanky restaurant and reserve a table in _our_ time, can they? And we've been a little busy since we got here."

"And didn't he look precious in his waistcoat?" Mikey cooed. "Of course Venus looked stunning, but I'm so glad Leo didn't go the whole hog and wear one of those icky suits we had to wear that night with Jammer-head."

"Probably cuz they're too impractical if he and Venus suddenly be attacked by Foot soldiers of the future."

"Or because the rental place won't let us back there since you shredded your suit."

"Exactly my point; it wasn't practical." Raph grinned. "Our big brother is still a worry wort though."

"He never changes, does he?" Don mused. "Even after everything that's happened, everything that those two have been through, what _we've_ put them through, he still wants to make sure we're okay."

"Yeah, well that's Leo, isn't it?" Mikey added. "He's always there for us, no matter what. And no matter how many times we tell him not to worry, that he deserves to be happy, that he deserves to be in a relationship with someone as amazing as Venus who, let's be honest, has earnt the right to a little happiness and normalcy herself, he always wants to put everybody else before himself. He sometimes forgets to switch off from leader mode to just-plain-old-Leo brother mode."

The other two turtles stared at their brother in shock.

"Mikey, whenever you meet whoever you're gonna spend the rest of your life with, they're gonna be one of the luckiest people around, you know that right?" Raph stated, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder.

"Raph, if I haven't found anyone here, I doubt I'll find _anybody_ who digs the green," Mikey replied, smiling sadly. Raph gently punched his arm.

"That's bullshit Mike. If I can find someone like Mona in _our_ world, then there's definitely hope for someone like you. Chicks dig a guy who can make them laugh."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "I'm just glad Leo found someone cool. I mean, it would be wicked to have a girlfriend with crazy powers."

"I'm pretty sure Leo fell for Venus _way_ before she got 'crazy' good with her skills," Raph replied, smiling knowingly. "Give him anyone who respects honour and duty as much as he does and he'd fall straight away. It just took him a while to realise what he was feeling was more than admiration."

"You mean, Venus is basically going out with her biggest fan?"

"Exactly, although I reckon you follow in a close second, always watching her master summin' new and-"

"It's totally wicked dude. I'd love to be a shinobi."

"And I thank whatever gods there are every day that you aren't." He rubbed his brother's head with a fond smile.

"Are either of you jealous of Leo?" The question had the two brother's stare at the family genius, though their gaze was without judgement. "I don't mean in a malicious way, it's just that-"

"It would be nice to have a partner at all, especially if they were the same species?" Raph finished, earning a nod from Donny.

"It doesn't help that Venus is so great as well. I never had a crush on her or anything; she really irritated me when she first moved in to be honest with all her shinobi stuff. But when I saw how dedicated she was to her clan's teachings, to her duty, and to _our_ family, I sort of admired her in the same way I admire Leo every day. They're so well matched for each other, having similar principles yet balancing each other out. I reckon Leo would definitely have gone AWOL by now if it weren't for her."

"I had a crush on her." Mikey's quiet voice brought the attention back to him. "Only for the first few weeks. She was one of us and so cool and kinda pretty and nice. But then I saw how much work she put into her training, how dedicated she was to it despite how scared she was of having to learn so much more stuff on her own. She was a master-less orphan and yet she pushed herself every day to get to the skill level she needed to be to fulfil her duty and to protect us. And that kind of intimidated me, which made me admire her more, but without the crazy crush."

"I liked her too Mike."

There was a pause as Raph looked towards his feet.

"What?"

"What?"

The shocked faces of his brothers made Raph smile.

"When?" Mikey asked. "Cuz if it was when she and Leo were captured by Hun then I'm surprised you didn't murder our dear brother."

He snorted. "Nah, it was way before that. I didn't really realise I liked her until we went to China. I dunno what it was about her but I just wanted to be around her all the time. I wasn't exactly subtle around her but I never knew if she knew. Then I realised that I wasn't ready for a relationship, especially one with someone with a whole stack of issues and responsibilities." He felt the atmosphere shift awkwardly. "Hey, I know it was selfish, but we were still kids, and I didn't know anything about her gifts, about her duty. I just saw this hot turtle who could make things catch fire and kick butt."

"Is that all?" Mikey snorted.

"Basically." He paused for a moment. "But, if I'm honest, I could already see a connection between Leo and Venus. When we were looking through the rubble of the temple, he found her dad's pendant, but tried to make me give it to her. We never talked about why, but I guessed he had some kind of feeling about me; he always seems to _know_ people. But after our conversation I realised then that he _got_ Venus a whole lot better than I did. He put it down to their qigong training, the blockhead, but I could see that they just…worked, you know. And I didn't want to get in the way of that. Venus deserves someone way better than me, and I think we can all agree that Leo deserves someone as amazing as Venus."

"Don't let Mona hear you say that," Donny chuckled, picking up his magazine.

"Ha, don't worry about it. She already knows I had a crush on her. I told her a few days after that massive family meal we had, not long after Venus woke up."

"And what did she say?" Mikey asked, unpausing the game.

Raph smiled at the memory. "She said 'having met her, I'm not surprised.'"

It truly was a beautiful night. Venus could see across the whole city from the sky-high restaurant they were currently sat in, sharing a large chunk of cheesecake whilst someone played piano in the background. Cody had said this was the place his dad took his mother every anniversary when Leo had asked him for some recommendations regarding restaurants, and so the leader thought it must be a nice place. He was right. She smiled as she caught Leo staring at her.

"You know, there is a stunning view out of the window. I don't think we've ever seen this much of New York even on the highest rooftop."

"Sorry," he apologised sheepishly. "I just, now forgive me if I sound completely ignorant right now but…how on earth do you make your face glow like that?"

Venus stared at him for a moment before releasing a laugh so loud other diners turned to frown at the noise. It immediately relaxed Leo to see her laugh so genuinely.

"I'm sorry Leo, but, that was just so adorable," she chuckled between breaths, wiping her eyes with a napkin. "Before the gala, Starlee helped me find something to wear and took me to a cosmetics store that promised to cater for 'all skin colours', which in this world obviously includes green, blue, red, you name it. Anyway, she picked out some kind of shimmery powder, showed me where to apply it, and presto! My face looks nice and shiny."

"I didn't notice it on the night of the gala," he admitted, looking guilty.

"Well, I didn't put nearly as much on, and let's be honest, you had other things on your mind."

She smiled at him before swiping the last piece of cheesecake off the plate and shoving it in her mouth. It was a move she'd learnt from Mikey, and Leo couldn't help smiling back at her, his grin staying even as she turned away to admire the view surrounding them again, often pausing to simply watch the pianist who amazed her with his talents. In that moment, Leo was at peace. He and Venus had been dating for nearly eight months now, but it felt as though it had been years. He guessed their year of unadmitted feelings hadn't helped, but he tried to push back thoughts of that dark time as he focused on the figure in front of him, glowing while the lights of the city danced around them. He wanted this feeling to last, wanted to experience it every day, and he knew there was a way for him to do that. But suddenly he was afraid. This was such new territory for him, an area that no one he knew had any experience in. He didn't even know if _he_ was ready, let alone Venus. She suddenly turned back to him, smiling again, and he set his mind at ease. There would be time. Not now, not whilst they were in this strange place. He wanted it to mean something, to the both of them.

After paying for their meal, the pair took a walk into the centre of the city. Both were a little jumpy; it was new territory for them to be able to walk out in the open like this. But walking amongst such a myriad of people, aliens, creatures, all different shapes, sizes, and colours, they didn't stand out so much. In fact, compared to some figures strolling about, they were pretty boring.

Venus couldn't stop looking around her though, taking in the lights and sounds of the bustling restaurant district. She smiled to see other couples walking together hand-in-hand, made up of different species, the same species, different genders, the same genders: each pair was unique.

"It is nice to be in such an open world," Venus commented, resting her head on Leo's shoulder as they walked. "Here, humans intermingle with everyone."

"It's nice to see other kinds of openness too," Leo replied, earning a confused look from Venus as she raised her head. "Our world can be so judgemental of _each other_ , let alone with 'factors' like us. But here, people can walk together, no matter who or what they are, and who or what they're in the company of."

"You wish this for our own world?" Venus asked, slowing them down to a stop. Music and laughter surrounded them, but she could see that Leonardo was troubled.

"Don't you? Don't you wish that people didn't judge each other for their appearance or gender or sexuality, or even their religion? It's a _good_ thing that everyone isn't the same, right?"

Venus smiled at him. "Of course, and this world you are imagining would save a lot of wars, a lot of lives. But there will always be those who believe they are right, and will try to force others to think the same. The key is to stand united against that force. Besides, this is not some kind of fantasy. This will happen someday. We just have to have faith in humanity."

Leo sighed as she gently kissed his cheek, silently banning anymore thoughts like that from their evening. He was supposed to be treating Venus, not boring her with his idealised concerns. He hadn't realised that the music they'd heard earlier had gradually gotten louder though.

The pair turned around to see a group of humans and aliens, each with a different kind of instrument, some Leo didn't recognise, making their way through the street. They were playing some kind of jazz, and he could see figures around them beginning to tap their feet.

"Why are they playing?" Venus asked, nodding her head slightly to the beat.

"I dunno. There are always street performers in New York though. Maybe we're near Tin Pan Alley or something." Venus frowned at him. "Birth place of jazz, or so some say."

The female turtle nodded in understanding before smiling at the couple who began to dance around the band. She turned to Leo who immediately shook his head.

"Oh no Venus. I don't dance."

"Have you ever tried? I don't think Master Splinter would have incorporated it into your training."

"Ha ha. No, funnily enough he didn't. Have you?"

"No, but that's why I want to try."

Leo bit his lip, keeping his feet planted to the floor as Venus tried to drag him closer to the band. After a few tries she let out a huff and released him.

"Fine. I guess we'll just watch. As usual." She didn't want to be selfish but this was the perfect opportunity to try something new and maybe break Leo out of his comfort zone.

Leo cursed himself for being so cautious. He grabbed Venus' hand and slowly began to spin her, all the while moving them closer to the band. Before long they were amongst the other dancing couples, who all seemed to be leaping and twisting around with such ease.

"Erm, I'm not sure what to do," Leo admitted, feeling embarrassed.

"Just spin me around a bit more and then we'll work it out from there," Venus replied, taking his hand and grinning at him. He still had no idea what to do, but Venus seemed so sure, so confident. He smiled back and did as he was bidden, laughing as she span away from him, let out a graceful kick of her leg, and then span back.

They spent over an hour unknowingly following the band, continuously dancing and twisting to the music that surrounded them. Only when the band turned into the shopping district did they finally leave them be, not wanting to go into the 24 hour mall and get lost amongst the late night crowds. They bought cold drinks from a street seller, sat on a bench and continued to admire the environment around them, finally relaxed with being out in the open.

"I do miss the stars," Venus suddenly commented, leaning against Leo.

"You can't see them back at home either."

"Sometimes you can, on a clear night on the outskirts of the city. Somewhere where there isn't a lot of light. And we see them when we're in Northampton. And I could always see them back in China, except on stormy nights."

"Do you miss it still?"

She bowed her head slightly.

"Yes. Every day, I wish I could walk among the forests by the river, watching the sunrise creep over the mountains and fill the trees with light. I wish I could swim in my lake, and practice meditation and qigong with the sounds of birds and the soft breeze for company. I wish I could feel the grass under my feet and hear the voice of my father." She lifted her head to look at him. "But I wish you were there with me. All of you. And when I realise that you were not there, in my past, I suddenly don't feel so sad any more. I instead hope for a future that we can share, rather than missing a past I no longer have."

"It's okay if you miss it, you know," Leo added, not wanting Venus to feel guilty.

"I know. It is a good thing that I miss it, I suppose. Just as I miss my father. But then I think how terribly I would miss you if we were separated, and that imaginary pain is much worse than yearning for my past."

Leo stood up and offered his hand, Venus taking it before throwing their cups into a trash can. He squeezed her fingers tightly.

"Don't worry, I won't ever let that happen." He added quietly, "Not again."

By the time they got back to Cody's apartment, it had just gone past 2am. Silently, the pair crept towards the bedroom corridor, Leo tonight automatically following Venus into her room. She left him to undress as she went to the bathroom, before the pair swapped, Leo returning to find Venus curled up under the covers, her eyes closed. He smiled at the peace on her face, gently crawling in beside her and wrapping his arms around her stomach. She turned into him slightly, her sky-eyes open.

"Thank you for the perfect evening, Leonardo."

She smiled at him, prompting Leo to lean forward, pressing a deep kiss to her lips before leaning back, allowing the pair to snuggle into each other, Venus quickly falling asleep. Leo smiled in relief. All in all, it had been a successful evening.


	7. Traces of Sh'Okanabo

_**A/N - This is the most recent TMNT piece I've written. I wrote all ten thousand words in one day, which I think is a new record for me. Now if only I could be that productive when writing my actual novel. Anyway, this is still set in the Fast Forward season but I have NO idea where the plot idea came from, only that I couldn't stop writing it. Be warned, it is a LONG chapter, my longest one so far in all my stories, but I think it fits well with my Fast Forward timeline.**_

 _ **Thank you in advance for taking the time to read it. I hope it's worth it :)**_

 **Traces of Sh'Okanabo**

"Tell me again, why are we doing Bishop's dirty work?"

"Raph, he's trying to protect the planet by looking for any of Sh'Okanabo's plots _before_ they can be implemented. Since we've had the most dealings with him, it makes sense for us to go on a recon mission."

"Still doesn't answer my question."

Donatello rolled his eyes at his hot-headed brother. The five of them had been contacted by Bishop that morning with a request to go on a reconnaissance mission in space; there were rumours of Sh'Okanabo's survival after the destruction of his own time window, with traces being pinpointed in the outer-5th system. The five of them had been given one of Bishop's fastest and most equipped ships, with a direct comms line, to go and investigate the region, which contained about 25 planets.

"I mean, who does he think he is, ordering us about? We coulda had summin' important on."

"What else would we be doing Raph?" Mikey asked. "Cody and Serling are working with Starlee to find a power source for the portal, and Master Splinter is happy reading, gardening, anything that means he doesn't have to come up to space."

"Yeah well who said I wanted to come up here either." Raph crossed his arms and sat back in his chair, frowning. "It's cold and dark, and takes a long time to get anywhere. Plus, I don't trust the guy. He might not be directly tryna kill us, but he's still a schmuck."

"Is that a technical term?" Donny asked, earning grins from his other brothers.

"Come on Raph," Leo added, "It's not exactly a difficult mission. When the scanner flags something up, we'll go and check it out. All we really have to do is drive around until something comes up."

"Yeah Raph, why not just enjoy the view?" Mikey smiled and leant back in his chair.

"What view? Black sky and some sparkly dots. Amazing. We've seen all this before with that nonsense with Professor Honeycutt."

"Well I haven't," Venus piped up. "I know we got to go to the moon not long ago but actually travelling through space…it's completely different."

"It's completely boring," Raphael muttered before leaning back into his chair. Venus elected to ignore him, focusing on the sight before her. When she was a child and used to star-gaze with her father in the valley, she never dreamed that one day she would actually be amongst those stars. The idea that she was in space, surrounded by nothing, miles and miles away from any sort of natural resource, threatened to overwhelm her, as though she were floating alone in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

A couple of hours later, Venus woke up to find Leonardo and Donatello piloting the ship, while Raphael and Michelangelo snored in their chairs. She caught Leo's eye and he smiled.

"I didn't realise I'd fallen asleep."

"I don't blame you, there's not much going on."

"Still nothing?"

"Nope," Don answered. "A whole lot of stars and a couple of planets, but not much else. The scanners aren't picking up on anything, and we haven't heard from Bishop either."

"We just have to keep driving around until we find something, if we do."

Venus nodded, standing to stretch her legs. She turned her attention back to the window.

"It is beautiful though, isn't it?"

She heard Leonardo get up to stand next to her.

"It is, but space always kind of scared me."

"How come?"

"Imagine getting lost out here? Being on you own and stranded from your ship or any form of communication? It would be like getting stuck on a raft in the middle of the Pacific Ocean."

Venus smiled at him, earning her an odd look.

"What?"

"Oh nothing." She reached down to take his hand. "One thing I do like is the peace and quiet. Being so far from land, there's no background noise."

"Not everywhere on Earth is like New York, Venus," Don chipped in.

"That's not what I mean. Even in China in my little valley, there was constant noise. I don't mean actual sounds, but just what I could sense. On Earth, especially since I unlocked quintessence, I'm always aware of things around me, and it's like a constant noise in my head."

"Like qigong, but with hyper-awareness?"

"I guess. But out here there's nothing. It's…nice, I think. Maybe a little unnerving. It makes me feel very isolated."

Donatello seemed to be considering her words when an alarm suddenly began sounding, the screen in front of him flashing. Raph and Mikey both gave sudden shouts, jumping out of their chairs.

"What? What is it?"

"Are we being attacked?"

"No, it's the sensors. They've picked up something nearby." Don began typing into the computer while Leo eyed the map.

"There's a yellow dot above this planet," Leonardo said.

"Well done Leonardo, your map-reading skills are truly a wonder to behold." The sly voice had all five of them staring at the computer screen, only to see Bishop's face grimacing at them. "I can truly see why your 'father' made you leader."

"Get to the point, Bishop," Raphael bit. "I'm the only who gets to insult Leo."

"That yellow dot is the location of the trace you are tracking. Something of Sh'Okanabo's is or was there. Go and investigate, and report back to me."

"But do we have clearance? Isn't there some sort of diplomatic order or -?"

"Leonardo, just see what you can find. Leave the politics to me."

The face disappeared and Leo unclenched his fist.

"I told ya I didn't like that guy," Raph growled. "He's got a serious ego issue."

"I agree," Leo replied, "But we have a job to do. Where are we headed Don?"

"To the yellow dot, about 100 miles west. Can you give me the name?"

Leo peered at the electronic map. "Mithillip, though I'm not sure on the pronunciation."

"Who cares? Let's just get down there, do whatever we gotta do, and then get back to Cody's." Raph snapped. "Space is starting to give me the jitters."

"You've been asleep for over an hour," Leo quipped, earning a scowl.

"Don't choose now to grow a sense of humour, fearless."

Fifteen minutes later the ship was in range of Mithillip, when another alarm went off.

"What now?" Mikey whined, when a different voice came through.

"You are speaking to General Hookan of Mithillip. Please state your business. Over."

"We are representatives of President Bishop of the Earth Protection Force, sent here to investigate all sightings of the war criminal Sh'Okanabo," Leo stated.

"We have reports that he was on your planet a short time ago and request information and permission to land. Over." Donatello finished.

"Earth Protection Force you say? Well, you've come at a bad time but since you've travelled so far, we'd be happy to oblige. You might even be of use to us. The control tower will help you land. Over."

Leo and Donny gave each other a thumbs up. As the ship got closer, they could see that the planet was very small and square shaped, with purple soil and three very small suns in the sky. They were guided onto an airbase, and the surrounding land looked rather barren and lifeless, bar the people that were running around.

"How strange," Venus commented as they landed in a hanger. "The ground looked so dry out there."

"Maybe it's their summer?" Mikey offered.

When the door to the ship opened the group were greeted by the General, a stocky, dark orange creature with three eyes, four arms, and a thick purple moustache.

"Goody day to you, Earthlings. I am General Hookan. Welcome to Mithillip."

"Thank you General," Leo stepped forward and offered his hand. "Thank you for accepting our request. Any information on Sh'okanabo would be helpful."

"Yes well we were a little surprised when you called him a war criminal, General…?"

"Oh, no, just Leonardo, please." Leonardo tried to ignore the smirks from his brothers. "We-"

"And I am President Bishop of the Earth Protection Force," a voice rang out, making the turtles cringe. Leo pressed his comms watch and a little hologram of Bishop appeared above his wrist. "The turtles have been sent on my behalf to investigate. Consider me now to be fully part of this conversation."

"Oh well, right you are, Sir." Hookan began leading the group away from their ship to the hanger exit. "Well, as I was saying, we're rather perturbed that Sh'Okanabo is on some kind of watch list. We've had a rather positive encounter with him a few months ago. Made a very successful purchase of technology to help with our efforts."

"Efforts?" Don asked.

"Well yes. There is a war on, don't you know."

He opened the door and chaos greeted the group. Darting around were soldiers, engineers, scientists, doctors, all manner of people who looked exactly the same as the general but with different hairstyles, their clothes distinguishing their professions. The group stared.

"What, right now?" Raph asked.

"Well he did say it was a bad time," Mikey quipped, earning a punch on the arm.

Leo eyed the scene before him, the weapons the soldiers were carrying, the jets that were zooming across the sky, the civilians that were being rounded up.

"General, you aren't just at war. You're preparing for battle."

"It's true. The war has been running for nearly 20 years but this year has been particularly vicious. We believe one final effort will end it once and for all, hence the encounter with your wanted man. He came to our planet with weapons, types we'd never seen before, knowing our plight. We bought as much as we could in the hopes they would stop our enemy from destroying our planet."

Venus watched as people ran about and noted their condition: all the civilians looked pretty underweight, their clothes torn and ripped, hanging off their bodies.

"Would not the money have been better spent on trying to feed your people?" Venus asked, earning a tired stare from the general.

"It was our last hope. This war has drained nearly all our financial resources and destroyed our natural ones. There have been six famines in eight years, but the war goes on. Our enemy does not stop trying to destroy us, and so we have to keep fighting."

"And who exactly is your enemy?" Raphael asked, eyeing up the soldiers.

"The Ritithi, a neighbouring planet some 400 miles away. 200 years ago our planet conquered them, causing a lot of damage, famine, and chaos. 50 years later we left, giving them their independence. For us, that was three generations ago, but the Ritithi live for a lot longer than we do. They still have people who remember, and so while our nation has tried to offer help and support, and forge a friendship, there are those who still regard us as the enemy. 20 years ago our royal family travelled to Ritithi in order to mark 200 years since we attacked them in an apologetic ceremony, but it was a trap. Our royal family was murdered by their republic, and they began attacking us. We have tried all manner of diplomatic techniques to solve the feud, but every ambassador we have sent has been assassinated, and our planet has been bombarded with missile attacks and air raids. This year marks the 20th year of war. We want it to end, and so we bought Sh'Okanabo's technology to face the Ritithi in what we hope to be the final battle."

"Which just so happens to be today?" Raph asked.

The General nodded.

"Turtle luck on point today."

"So when you said you'd be happy to oblige…" Donny began, giving the General a sceptical look.

"You are more than welcome to inspect our Sh'Okanabo technology, but first we would like your assistance in winning this battle."

"And if we refuse?"

"Then you'll have to leave, immediately. Protecting my people comes first. Your investigation can wait."

Leo suddenly felt all eyes turn to him. He looked out beyond the airfield; the land bore physical marks of war, great craters and burnt vegetation indicating past explosions. The people too were scarred, various soldiers assisting the injured where they could. This didn't look like a war that was going to be won any time soon.

"Well, I think we need to discuss first what-"

"Leave."

The Bishop hologram, which had been silent during the conversation, suddenly spoke.

"What?" Leo asked.

"Leave. That's an order, Leonardo. This isn't our fight."

"You ain't even here," Raph snapped.

"Doesn't matter. You are in an EPF ship, representing me and my organisation. You will return home now and the EPF will make an official visit in the near future."

"Bishop, this could be the chance for the Earth to make a political ally," Leonardo argued. "This planet has suffered war long enough. Its people need help and the army has put everything on the line for these weapons."

"Yeah, call it an active research opportunity," Mikey added, causing Don to roll his eyes.

"Leonardo," Bishop spat. "May I remind you that you have no diplomatic clearance, no real idea about this war, and more importantly, no authority in my presence. Now you better corral your freak of a family back onto _my_ ship or face the consequences."

A wave of tension swept through the group as everyone watched Leonardo bristle at the command and then wait for his reaction.

"Do you know about this war?"

"What?"

Leonardo's voice was so quiet that the others hadn't heard him either.

"Do you know about this war?"

"It is not your place to ask questions."

"So, no. And what happens if the Ritithi are successful today, and conquer Mithillip, and decide to further their sights to Earth?"

"Don't be so ridiculous, our defences are far too strong for some pathetic planet to try and colonise us."

"Well, as Mikey said, let's call this an active research opportunity."

Leo clocked eyes with his brother and smiled.

"Leonardo, I am warning you, this is not your - "

"I remember when Honeycutt told us about the colonisation of his planet, and that you and EPF knew about it, and did _nothing_. Now I know that was long time ago for you, but for us, the memory is still fresh. We aren't going to abandon a planet, no matter how tiny it is. We might not know the full extent of this war, but we can the effect it has had here: People here have suffered poverty, famine, sacrifice, and are pinning all their hopes on some technology that we too are familiar with. We can't possibly just abandon them now. Besides, who's to say we'll get out of Mithillip airspace before the Ritithi begin attacking?"

Leonardo fixed the hologram a cold stare, waiting for his answer. Bishop glared back, and then disappeared, severing the communication.

"So, what does that mean?" Mikey asked.

"That we're in big trouble," Don replied, eyeing Leo warily.

"That we're about to fight in a war that we ain't involved in," Raph stated.

"Look Raph," Leo began, bracing himself. "I didn't want to-"

"Hey I ain't arguing with ya, just stating facts." Raph gave his brother a rueful smile. "Besides, I'll support anything that gets Bishop to shut up."

"What happens now?" Venus asked, slightly alarmed by the situation.

"We'll leave that in your hands General," Leo answered, facing Hookan. The man looked at him, surprised.

"We have your support? But, we're strangers. You don't know us."

"Hey, we've seen enough wars to know we don't like them," Raph replied. "And besides, you said you wanted our help."

"Yes, but I never thought you'd say yes."

The five looked at each other. _Well that's comforting_ , Donny thought.

"We aren't soldiers," Leo warned.

"No, but I can tell you are warriors."

"How? I know I have a particularly courageous aura but I'm surprised you sensed it." Mikey shifted slightly, flexing his arms a little, earning rolled eyes from everyone.

"I didn't. You are carrying weapons."

Mikey glanced at the nunchaku on his belt. "Oh."

"General," a soldier stepped forward to address Hookan. "The pilots of rank three need you to sign them off before they get in the air."

"Very well. Perhaps our new friends here can help with that."

The group began walking in front of the hanger where a line of jets sat, ten small silver ones, and six slightly larger black ones.

"Gentleman, and madam," Hookan began, indicating the turtles, "I introduce to you our air fleet. Most of our jets and larger ships are in the air already, but these are our elite. We have our own Mithillip fighters, fast and well built, and our Sh'Okanabo fighters, faster, newer, and imbued with cloaking technology. We will be taking this battle to the sky, the control tower transferring into our main ship, with the jets defending it and the planet itself. I need to split you up a little to make the most of your skills. Which of you are the strongest?"

Everyone looked to each other, Raphael quickly raising his arm, and then Donatello slowly doing the same with a prompt from Leonardo.

"Excellent, I'll need the pair of you on defence. Now, which of you is best acquainted with the Sh'Okanabo technology?"

Again, Donny raised his arm.

"Excellent. You'll be on control tower defence then. You'll come up with me in the main ship and help with logistics. My men know the technology well but it's always useful to have an extra bit of experience. And any problems we have with potential hijacking of the ship, you'll be the one keeping the bad guys out." The General didn't see Donnie's unconvinced glare at Raph.

"Now you two will be on attack, piloting two of the Sh'Okanabo fighters." He pointed at Leo and Mikey. "You'll be under the command of General Fooshah, who'll be leading in another Sh'Okanabo, trying to keep the Ritithi away from our airspace."

"With all due respect General, I think I'd be better off on the ground on defence," Leo argued. "I'd be more use fighting down here than up there."

"Leonardo, there won't be a fight down here unless we fail at our duty," Hookan replied. "The Ritithi haven't made land fall in five years and we don't plan on letting them here any time soon."

"But-"

"It isn't that kind of war Leo," Donny interrupted. He took Leo aside. "This is a battle of the future. No swords, no hand to hand combat. Not even hand guns. Our weapons are practically useless here. Everything is done from ships. Like in the movies."

"But this isn't a movie Don, and we don't know how to fight like that. _Especially_ me."

"What do you mean?"

Leo looked uneasy. "You know I'm not so good with technology. Piloting a high-speed fighter jet isn't exactly my forte."

"Then adapt. Isn't that the most important rule of the ninja?"

Leo gave him an unamused look before turning back to General Hookan.

"Alright, I'll go up. But I'll need a tour of the ship before I do any flying."

"Deal. Now miss," the General addressed Venus. "We have evacuated as many civilians as possible onto our arc ships which left two days ago. However, we still have about 300 here who are either injured, ill, pregnant, or simply too old or too young to fight. I would put you on defence with this red-banded fellow here, aiding Sergeant Kasim in their moving down to the bunkers underneath the hangers. They are a mile beneath ground and well-constructed, but the people need a calm but firm presence in order to maintain a chaos free environment."

"We're on babysitting duty?" Raph asked.

"You're helping the next generation of Mithillipians survive," answered a new soldier, stepping into the conversation. Venus guessed him to be Sergeant Kasim. "And if any of the Ritithi made land fall, the first thing they'll do is try and wipe out the inhabitants of Mithillip. That's when you two come in."

"Of course we'll help," Venus answered, giving Raph a long look.

"Excellent. Well, now that that's all sorted, let's get moving. The Ritithi could be here any moment."

Raph stepped forward and fist bumped his brothers.

"Stay safe out there, boys. Cody's ordering Chinese in tonight and I don't wanna miss it." He rubbed Mikey's head affectionately. "No goofing off either."

"Moi?" Mikey answered, before giving Venus a hug.

"Stay focused, everyone," Leo added. "This is a new environment for us so we need to think fast. It's an unknown enemy so listen to the Mithillipians and utilise their knowledge."

"And don't get killed cause otherwise Master Splinter will ground your butts for at least a year," Mikey chimed in, earning a patient sigh from Leo.

"Our watches should work no matter the distance so stay in touch guys," Don said. "Keep each other updated and let us know when you're in trouble. I know we're here to help a war effort but turtles come first." He gave Leo a long look before the leader finally gave a little nod.

Leo then stepped forward to give Venus a quick hug.

"Come back to me," Venus whispered, kissing his cheek.

"I will. Stay safe. I'd like for us to go on another date sometime."

Venus smiled at him, kissed him on the lips, and then released him. Leo stepped back to let Donny say goodbye. Venus gave him a quick hug.

"Please keep an eye on him. If he can blow up a toaster, I dread to think what he can do in a jet."

Donny snorted but gave her a serious nod. "I'll prepare him, I promise."

He went to join Mikey as Venus turned to walk with Sergeant Kasim. Raphael caught Leo's hand in a strong hold and looked his brother in the eyes. Leo returned the grip and the pair nodded, before turning in opposite directions and walking away. Leo turned back to see Raph and Venus heading towards the third hanger, worry tugging at his chest.

 _What have I done?_

General Hookan stood proudly in front of two of the Sh'Okanabo fighters. Donatello and Michelangelo both stared, gawping at the jets while Leo looked slightly paler than before.

"They've got missile tracking, cloaking technology, high-accuracy lasers and missiles, temporary boosters for a quick getaway, submarine converters, interactive maps…"

The general faded off when he saw that both Leo and Mikey looked completely lost, though the latter was a lot more excited than the former.

"Why don't I let you explain the details to your brothers?" The General asked Donatello, who nodded. "I'll sign off the other ships and then we can get moving."

The General moved off, leaving the three turtles to climb into Leo's ship.

"Okay guys, I need your full attention. That means no pressing buttons, fiddling with levers, or asking questions until I'm finished. Clear?"

"But do you even know how this thing works?" Leo asked, following his brother into the cockpit.

"It'll only take a sec to work out. And what did I say about questions?"

Leo nodded, gazing around. The ship was big. Where the nose became pointed was his seat with the control panel in front of it with a large reinforced window. To his left and right were various other buttons, some out of arm's length.

"First things first, most of the controls are voice activated. For example: 'activate shield'."

There was a gentle hum as the view outside gained a purple sheen as the shield surrounded the ship.

"Nice. Now, sit down Leo."

Leo did as he was bidden as the seat automatically moulded to his shape and height.

"Double nice. Now, here are all the physical buttons you'll need. These aim and fire the lasers, and this button activates the missiles which you can aim with this lever here." Donny checked to see if his brother was paying attention. "This is the ejector seat, and the seat contains a suit should you be blasted up into space, which is activated by pressing the button here between your legs. There is a comms system for contact with the generals which is automatic, but we're all linked to our watches anyway. And that's it."

"But, what about all the other buttons?"

"To be honest, I don't want to overload your brain Leo. These are all the important things you need, everything else like fuel levels, system defences, and anything else you need are all voice activated. Just ask, and the ship will tell you."

"Okay." Leo looked around at all the buttons again. "Feels weird being in a Sh'Okanabo ship."

"I know the guy's a creep, but he sure knows how to make a good jet." Donny looked round to see Mikey wandering around the cabin, and then raised a brow at his older brother. "We'll be fine Leo. I know it's all a bit last minute, but we know what we're doing. We can take care of ourselves."

"I know that Don, and I'm not doubting your skills, but did I do the right thing? Bishop's right, this isn't our fight, but look at the state of this planet. I'm not sure I could've just left it, especially after seeing the civilians." Leo let out a breath. "I guess I'm more annoyed at myself for letting Bishop get to me and for making a decision that we all should've come to, not just me."

Don placed a hand on Leo's shoulder.

"Look Leo, we all trust you. You're our leader and our brother. We put our lives in your hands every day."

"Yes, but look what happened in the turf war in New York. We could have been killed! I could've lost you - "

"But you didn't. And that was a long time ago. You've got a lot more experience now in measuring a fight, and we've got a lot more experience in winning them." He clapped Leo's shoulder before stepping back. "Relax. Just think of this as a training exercise. And besides, it really does give us a chance to research Sh'Okanabo technology."

Don smiled at his brother, and Leo gave a small one in return.

"Okay Mikey, let's get you set in your own jet."

"Cool! See ya in the skies Leo!"

"I'm not going anywhere until I'm told to. I just want to familiarise myself with the controls a little more."

"Okay, just don't touch anything," Mikey warned before Donny gave him a look. "What?"

"Whatever. See you in a bit Leo."

"Yeah, see you."

Leo stared at all the buttons before him.

 _Seriously, what have I done?_

Outside, Mikey gave Donny a serious look.

"Leo's really worried, isn't he?"

"I think he hears the word 'war' and goes into battle mode. Despite living in the future for months he hasn't considered that warfare may have changed."

"Well, he was fine enough when we were dealing with the Triceratons."

Donny snorted. "You and I remember that time very differently," he replied, remembering Leo's complete ineptitude with every space craft they encountered.

"Well, a change of pace will be good for him."

"You make it sound like he's retiring to Florida or something."

"Hey, now that's an idea!"

Donny's reply was suddenly swallowed by an alarm that echoed over the airbase.

"What is that?" Mikey yelled as sirens joined the cacophony.

"They're in our airspace!" A pilot yelled. "The Ritithi are here!"

The brothers gulped.

Inside his jet, Leo heard the alarm loud and clear and jumped up, when a sudden shunting sounded in the cockpit. He turned around to see the control panel lights lit up. His stomach dropped and he twisted back to head for the door and his brothers. Another shunting filled his ears and suddenly purple greeted his vision. He stopped to press his arm out, only to be greeted by a wall, which boxed him in around the control panel.

"What is this?"

" _Internal shield activated_ ," said a voice.

"Well unactivate it!"

" _Remote control engaged. Command not recognised."_

"'Remote control'?" Leo's chest started pounding. Then the engine started.

Leo ran forward and began pounding at the shield, punching, kicking, slicing with his swords. The door then shut, prompting the engines to get louder.

Outside, Mikey and Donny twisted round as their brother's jet suddenly came to life, the door slamming on them.

"What's he doing?" Mikey asked.

"No idea!" Donny ran around to the front to try and see Leo through the window. "He's not there!"

" _Donny! Anyone! Come in!"_

Donny looked down at his watch to see Leo's name flash up.

"Leo, what's going on? Why is your jet activated?"

" _I don't know! But there's an internal shield…I….get…"_ The comms line began to crackle.

"What? Leo, I can't hear you!"

 _"Can't…out…"_

"Leo?" Donny couldn't make sense of what his bother was saying, but he could hear his panic clear enough.

Suddenly the engines fired up and Donny looked upwards to see Leo trying to smash through the windscreen. Then the jet started moving.

"Leo, stop the jet! Stop it! Leo!"

His voice was drowned out by the sound of the jet speeding off onto the runway and flying into the air, towards the incoming enemy fleet.

"Leo, can you hear me? Leo!" The line was dead. Donny absorbed the silence for a moment, before Raph shattered it.

 _"Donny, what the shell is happening up there?"_

"Leo's just taken off in his jet but we can't through to him. I don't know what he's doing."

"I'll start prepping to go after him," Mikey announced when his ship suddenly began warming up.

"Wait Mikey, no!" Don yanked him back, and a few seconds later the hatch closed before the jet began moving forwards. The pair stared as it sped off after Leo.

 _"Now what? Donny, talk to me!"_

Raph's voice brought them back to the present.

"Mikey's jet has just done the same."

 _"What button did that bozo press?"_

"I'm not in it!" Mikey yelled, when more roaring erupted behind them. One by one, each of the Sh'Okanabo jets came to life, speeding away from their prospective and shocked looking pilots.

Generals Hookan and Foosha came running towards them.

"What happened? Why did your brother and the other soldiers leave?" Hookan demanded.

"We don't know-"

Donny was interrupted by a pilot. "Sir, our jets were empty. They left on their own."

"Impossible."

"Mine did too!" Mikey added. "Leo was in his but I doubt he activated it."

"But I didn't engage the auto pilot on any of the jets," Foosha added.

"Leo said something about an internal shield?" Donny asked.

"Yes, it's a feature designed to trap enemy fighters who might try and hijack the jets, but we disabled it for fear of malfunction."

"What do you mean 'trap'? You mean, Leo is trapped in the jet?"

"He'll be in effectively a box, only able to access the control panel to steer the jet to avoid collisions, though only after the autopilot has disengaged."

 _Crap, Leo._

 _"Donnie?!"_

"Trouble Raph." Donny turned around to see a fleet of enemy jets heading towards them. "Really big trouble."

In the refuge bunker, Venus and Raph looked at each other.

Venus gripped his arm. "Go. They need you. Get him back."

Raph nodded before speaking into his watch again. "Sit tight Don, I'm on my way."

Sprinting as fast as he could, Raph arrived three minutes later to find Mikey and Donny waiting behind a couple of Mithillip jets.

"What do we do?"

"They've scrambled the jets. You and Mikey need to get in the air now."

"Don, we need to find Leo - "

"I know Raph but the Ritithi are here and are going to try and destroy these people whether Leo is here or not. We've got to put in a line of defence."

"But you said so yourself, Don. Turtles come first."

"And think about how mad Leo's going to be if we abandon these people to go save him," Mikey argued. "I want to get him back too but first we've got to get rid of some of these jets. Once the Mithillipians have gained a bit of control then we can go on a rescue mission."

Raph clenched his fists for a moment and then released.

"Alright bro, but what happens if these jets got all AI on us?"

"I'm pretty sure it's only the Sh'Okanabo jets that have done it," Don replied.

"Heh, funny that. I think you need to have a little chat with General Hookan."

"I will, now get in the air. I've gotta get to the control tower."

The brothers fist bumped before Raph and Mikey jumped into their jets, Donny running to the control tower. Getting to the top, he was greeted by General Hookan.

"Good good. Let's get this gal in the air."

Soldiers around him began throwing switches on the control panel before a gentle hum sounded. Slowly the top of the control tower detached itself from the actually tower, becoming a ship as it rose into the sky.

"Amazing," Donny mused.

"Yes it is rather. And all Mithillipian."

"General, are there any other Sh'Okanabo technologies that you bought?"

"Let's get into the sky so we can start helping the jets out a bit first," the General replied. "Then you can badger me with all the questions you want."

Donny nodded, trying to swallow his worry.

Meanwhile Raph and Mikey were just taking off. The former let out a whistle.

"This is some nice tech here Mike."

" _I know! And I get to use it!"_

"Yeah well don't let your reputation for breaking things get in the way."

 _"I think Leo's already beaten me to it."_

"He'll be fine. He'll probably just sit and meditate until the ship is back under his control."

 _"But why did it go AWOL in the first place?"_

"That's for Donnie to worry about. We gotta concentrate on blasting some of these creeps out of the sky." Raph prepared himself to enter the fray. "Ready?"

 _"On your mark, bro."_

The brothers entered the battle.

The battle was harsh. About an hour in and the control centre was in position above the airbase of Mithillip, just outside its atmosphere. Supporting their jets from there, the Mithillipians managed to drive the Ritithi out of Mithillip airspace, but after two hours a few enemy jets kept sneaking in and bombarding the surface. While they were yet to lose any fighters, the loss of the six Sh'Okanabo jets was beginning to show.

Inside the tower, Donatello was growing desperate.

"General, if we don't identify the Sh'Okanabo technology now it might be too late."

"Alright Donatello but I don't know why you're worried. Nothing else has malfunctioned."

The control centre was in chaos. Everyone was talking at once to various pilots, soldiers, and ground support. Twice Donatello had tried initiating a ceasefire but the Ritithi had refused, inciting revenge, not favours. He'd been worried that they'd been a bit hasty supporting just one side, but Donatello could soon tell that the Ritithi were on the war path, no matter the outcome.

He'd been in contact a few times with Raph and Mikey; they seemed to be in their element. Venus was safe in the bunker, dealing with the frightened civilians well enough. She was also trying to contact Leonardo through their comms and through meditation and qigong. No one had heard anything though.

Donny stared out into the fray, watching jet after jet speed past.

 _Where are you brother?_

"General, please just tell me what else you bought from Sh'Okanabo."

"The control centre was of Mithillip construction, but we purchased the computer system in order to better serve the jets."

"And that's it?"

"Yes, and-"

Hookan was interrupted by an explosion outside the ship.

"Report!" He barked as various sirens went off.

"Something's hit us on the right-side sir," answered a soldier.

"What was it?"

"It looks like a jet."

"How did it get past the shield?"

"It shut down the spilt second before the jet hit."

Debris floated in their vision from the crash. The tip of a wing. It was black.

Dread bunched in Donnie's stomach.

"That's from a Sh'Okanabo jet."

"Impossible."

"Affirmative sir," confirmed a soldier. "The scanners say its Sh'Okanabo technology. No one was inside the jet though."

Donny appreciated the extra piece of information.

"But why would they be attacking us? It doesn't make sense."

"General, the Rithiti are trying to make contact," another soldier shouted.

"Open the line."

 _"General Hookan, I don't know how you acquired the technology to do so but controlling our jets is a dirty move, one we will repay most generously."_

"General Lithko, how strange that we should both have the same enquiry."

 _"Don't make me laugh Hookan. As if your pathetic planet could ever afford Sh'Okanabo technology."_

"Wait, you have Sh'Okanabo ships?" Don asked, earning a glare from Hookan.

 _"You see? You can't even identify them as they stream through your skies. Their black wings foretell your death."_

"Well clearly not if we are controlling them."

 _"My engineers are working on getting them back under our control right now, and when they do, your planet will be nothing but a speck of dust."_

The Ritithi General signed off and Donny stared at Hookan.

"They have Sh'Okanabo jets. He sold them to you both, and now they've all stared controlling themselves."

"But, Sh'Okanabo knew who we were fighting. He knew we were at war."

"And he saw a good opportunity to make a quick buck. What's the betting he built in a remote-control programme to cause havoc in the battle."

"But why would he?"

"Because Sh'Okanabo loves chaos. He thrives off it and uses the repercussions of it to try and build his Day of Awakening. You, General, have been played."

General Hookan gave him a long hard look before turning back to the window.

"It doesn't matter. This battle was inevitable. We'll just have to rely on our own technology."

Suddenly alarms started blaring from the control panel.

"What now?"

"The computer system sir, its failing."

"What?!"

"It's crashing. We're locked out of it!"

All the lights went off and there was a sudden lurch as the engines gave out.

"Power's gone!"

"Back-up generator operational. We should have enough air to last us…30 minutes."

Donny stared at the soldiers.

"Alright chaps, calm down. Put out an SOS. We're not much good here just floating."

"We're a sitting duck!" Don snapped, before staring at the window. "That's floating downwards."

"What?"

Another alarm went off.

"Sir, we aren't high enough. We're on Mithillip's atmospheric border, meaning we're still in the planet's gravitational field."

Another lurch confirmed this.

"Get moving men!" Hookan snapped. "Get that SOS out and get us moving."

"The SOS has been disabled sir. It was part of the new Sh'Okanabo sytem. All comms systems are down."

Donny saw the General go pale.

"Yours might be." Donny activated his watch. "Raph, Mikey, come in."

 _"Hey bro! Not great timing. Raph and I have got a couple of these Ritithi on our tail. These guys are psychos!"_

 _"Yeah Brainiac, can ya gives us a minute?"_

"Not really. The control centre has failed and we're about to free fall back down to Mithillip."

 _"What? Can't you do anything?"_

"I'm gonna try and get the original system back up and running but it's going to take some time. We can't get an SOS out and need to get these soldiers out of here ASAP. Can you pass the message on? We're also gonna need some cover."

 _"No worries bro. We got you covered."_

 _"But why did it fail?"_

"It's Sh'Okanabo technology, and guess what? The Ritithi have the same Sh'Okanabo jets, and they've gone AWOL. Sh'Okanabo's caused a lot of problems here."

 _"Wow, he really milked this war, didn't he? How do you know?"_

"We had a call from the other General, and one crashed into our ship."

 _"Crashed! Was-?"_

"No one was inside, but now we know what the jets are actually here for we need to try and find Leo. The internal shield must be pretty solid since I'm guessing it's interrupting his comms signal, but I'm not sure if it'll actually protect him, or when the autopilot will give out."

 _"Okay, we'll keep our eyes out. You just try and get the control centre back up and running."_

 _"Yeah, stay safe bro."_

Donny took a deep breath, taking comfort in the fact that two of his bothers were safe. He then cracked his knuckles and moved to the control panel.

"Let me have a crack at this thing."

Back down on Mithillip Venus was doing her best to keep the peace in the bunker despite the heavy hits the surface was clearly taking. The explosions echoed above them but they couldn't feel anything.

"How is this bunker so secure? You said you built it pretty quickly," Venus asked Kasim, who was peering through a periscope which led to the surface.

"The walls are infused with Sh'Okanabo technology which absorb the shocks and keep them together. The earth is quite loose and dry on Mithillip, not great from digging underground."

He looked back to the periscope when a particularly loud explosion sounded above. "Damn! The hanger's been hit. We're a bit more open now."

Another explosion hit, but this time they felt it. Silence fell on the bunker.

"What…?"

They waited. They heard the approach of missile, and felt the walls shake as it hit. Venus looked up as the corners of the metal walls, which had been gently glowing, went out. They were left in darkness.

"Damn," Kasim whispered. Soldiers and civilians illuminated torches, when another explosion hit. The walls moved and dust fell through the cracks. Panic ensued.

"We need to get out!" Venus yelled over the din was the soldiers tried to calm the people.

"We can't! The entry way is a mile long and leads up to the hanger, which is currently on fire!"

"I can deal with that, but if we stay here everyone will be suffocated!"

"But the bunker-"

"Has failed! Whatever stabilising technology you had isn't working. We need to get these people out, now!"

"I can't risk it."

"I'm telling you, you can! I can deal with the fire. You have to trust me!"

Kasim looked unconvinced.

Donnie was breaking through a tricky firewall when his watch beeped.

 _"Donatello, come in."_

"Venus! What's wrong?"

 _"The bunker has failed. Everyone down here is going to suffocate if we don't get them out."_

"What? What do you mean it's failed?"

 _"The stabilising technology that keeps the walls tight and sealed. Kasim says it's Sh'Okanabo technology, can you believe it?"_

Donny looked up to stare at Hookan.

"You never mentioned the bunker was reinforced with Sh'Okanabo technology."

"We had to! Otherwise we wouldn't have been able to build the shelter fast enough."

"Why didn't you tell me when I asked?"

"Because it wasn't important at the time."

"Wasn't important?!"

"And I may have forgotten about it," he added in a small voice. Donny glared at him, incredulous.

"Venus, listen to me. All of the Sh'Okanabo technology has failed, on the Mithillip and Ritithi side too. The computer system in the control centre has crashed and I'm trying to get it back up and running but we're currently falling back down to Mithillip at the same time." He clenched his fists, feeling so helpless. "What I'm saying is-"

 _"You can't do anything right now."_

He bit back tears of frustration.

"I'm sorry. I'll do what I can but I've gotta get this ship up and running again."

 _"Don't worry, I've got it down here. I'm going to get everyone out before the bunker collapses. The hanger above us has been destroyed, any suggestions as to where we can take the civilians?"_

Donny looked up to Hookan. He looked decidedly pale.

"Take them to the control tower. The shields and computer system there aren't Sh'Okanabo, so they should still be working fine."

 _"Roger that. Keep me updated on everything."_

"But Venus, what are you going to do if-?"

 _"Whatever I can."_

Donny stared at his watch, worry gripping him, then anger. Hookan glanced at him nervously.

"If anything happens to her, or to any of my brothers, you won't live to see the result of this war."

Venus looked at her watch in dismay. Another explosion shook the wall. She could feel the fear in the room. Kasim looked at her.

"We need to get moving, now."

The Sergeant nodded and began giving orders to the others. Venus pushed open the door, which fell down now that the bunker had shut down, before quickly heading up the entrance ramp. She turned as she walked to see children and the uninjured following her swiftly, while the soldiers assisted those lagging behind. She immediately tuned into her surroundings, the absence of technology suddenly making it a lot easier. She concentrated on the soil, making note of every shift and change. It was difficult since it wasn't earthly soil, but she had to be ready to hold off a collapse at any moment.

Back in the sky, Donny was still trying to hack into the system with sirens blaring at him as they got closer to the surface of the planet. Most of the ship had been evacuated by high-speed jets, but now they were plummeting too quickly for anyone to help. The turtle was left with General Hookan and a few vital crew. Their efforts weren't helping.

His watch beeped, and he saw Mikey's name appear.

"Hey Mike."

 _"Hey bro. How's it going?"_

"Not good. I can't get into the system and the ground's getting a lot closer."

 _"Listen bro, you can do this. You've got the magic turtle touch."_

"I'm trying Mikey, but if I can't do this, you're gonna have to keep the lines between you guys and Venus open, okay? And keep trying Leo. He's still out there somewhere."

There was a moment of silence and suddenly Don hated pressurising Mikey like that.

 _"No worries bro. I got you. You just do what you gotta do. Raph and I still want Chinese tonight."_

Donny signed off, smiling before another siren erupted.

 _"Five minutes until collision."_

 _Come on Don._

Venus was almost out of the tunnel when she felt the ground shift. The was a creaking sound as the metal walls began to move, and the screams of frightened civilians filled her ears. Venus immediately pressed a hand against one of the walls and reached the other outwards, flexed. She imagined the soil in her mind, tried to reach it, and then command it. She latched on. The soil stopped.

"Venus, how are you-?"

"Just get them out!" She said through gritted teeth. "I'm not sure how long I can hold it."

Kasim nodded and began running, the others following. Her grip slipped and she heard screams as the soil shifted again but she regained control, her arm muscles bunching as she held the weight of the soil.

"Hurry!"

She wasn't sure how much time passed before another explosion rocked the ground. They were closer to the surface now, and she could almost feel the heat of the flames. The force made the walls shift again, even more than before, and her strength waned. The walls collapsed slightly, the tunnel narrowing as it filled with soil, but she kept a gap open.

"How many more?" She shouted into the dark.

"Ten!" Was the muffled reply.

"Please hurry!"

She shut her eyes listening to the footsteps go past until she felt a tap on her shoulder.

She opened her eyes to see a female soldier carrying an elderly man with a broken leg on her back.

"We're the last."

"Good. Get moving."

Venus turned to follow them, gradually releasing control behind her as she maintained it in front. A couple of minutes later they were at the tunnel entrance. Flames licked the surface but there was a clear path to the control tower, where a few of the civilians were treading. Venus watched as the last soldier exited before her before a whistle and screams made her stomach drop. She peered up to see a missile heading towards them and made a snap decision. She created a shield, pushing as much energy as possible into it, stretching from the shelter entrance to the control tower. Here, she had a layer of soil to protect her. They had nothing.

A beep emitted from her watch.

 _"Hey Venus, how's the evacuation going?"_

"Not now Raph," she gasped.

Venus felt the hit rather than heard it, the force of the missile causing the shield to vibrate but she willed it not to shatter.

 _"What was that? Venus? Venus! Talk to me!"_

She could feel the soil close in around her, the heat brushing her skin, but only when the screaming stopped outside did she release the shield and close her eyes.

" _Two minutes until collison."_

"Come on!"

Donny punched the control panel. He was trying to hack into the system but he kept being locked out.

"I am going to kill Sh'Okanabo." He turned to the soldier next to him, the only one still working on the system. The others were with General Hookan, pretending not to cower.

"Any ideas? Any at all?"

"I'm sorry sir. I've tried uninstalling it, resetting the system, rebooting it, even unloading all the latest updates, while trying new and old security codes, but nothing's working."

"We just need to get the ship moving again," Donny whined.

"We could try a manual start of the engines. It has a backup fuel system that is activated by the doors. It works on a pressure mechanism."

Donny turned to the soldier.

"You're telling me this now?"

"I'm sorry sir, it's not common knowledge. It was something I learnt way back at the start of my training."

"I don't care, get it moving! And take the General with you."

Donny heard running feet as he began monitoring the fuel levels and engine engagement while still trying to regain control. He saw that the engine had been engaged, but not activated.

 _"One minute until collision."_

"Keep going!"

More footsteps sounded as the other soldiers ran out to help. Donny tried to focus.

 _I'm sorry Leo. I told you that we'd be okay here but we're not. We're way out of our depth. I'm sorry. I hope the guys find you. I hope you get home safely and don't blame yourself. This isn't your fault. I'm sorry._

A roar suddenly brought Donny from his thoughts as ship lurched upwards slightly. He looked up to see the ship stationary in the air.

"Where to?" He heard.

"Just land it somewhere!"

A roar woke Venus. She was exhausted. Her lungs hurt from lack of air, the soil pressing into her nose and mouth. She felt a sudden heat above her as some of the soil shifted. She willed the rest of the soil off of her, only to find herself staring at the bottom of a ship. She scrambled up and moved as it tried to land, hitting the earth with a gentle thud.

Only then did she hear a familiar voice shouting from her watch.

 _"Venus!"_

"I'm here Raph. Had a bit of a problem with a missile."

 _"What's going on down there?"_

"All the civilians are out and in the control tower." Donny suddenly emerged from the ship that had landed. He grinned at her. "And Donny has a new ride."

 _"Is he there?"_

She rushed over to the genius and hugged him.

"Yes I'm here Raph. I'm going to get up into the control tower and try and hack into the Sh'Okanabo system to shut down those jets. We need to find Leo."

 _"Roger that. We'll stay up here and provide you with some cover. This war ain't ending anytime soon."_

Venus and Donny nodded to each other before running into the control tower. Inside they found all the civilians and soldiers, and then the engineers and technicians who were providing ground support.

"I need to get into the system," Donny order, taking a space from an engineer.

"What? On whose authority?"

"Mine," General Hookan ordered. "Half of you provide air support, the rest, assist Donatello in hacking the Sh'Okanabo system. We need those jets back, fast."

"But sir, we've taken a lot of heavy fire. Our shields are about to collapse."

Venus stepped forward. "I can help with that."

Donny looked immediately anxious.

"But Venus, the size of the shield you'll need to make…it'll be too much of a drain of your energy."

"I can do it, provided I'm outside and given cover. You just work as fast as you can."

"But-"

"I'll cover her," Kasim offered. "And here, this might be helpful." He threw a remote at Donny.

"What is it?"

"The Sh'Okanabo control panel from the bunker. It came away when the walls started collapsing."

Donny nodded, watching as Kasim and Venus sprinted outside. He analysed the panel and the plugged it into an isolating programme that wouldn't infect the whole system.

"It's go time."

Outside, Venus tapped into her comms watch.

"Raph and Mikey, come in."

 _"I hear ya Shinobi. What do ya need?"_

"I've got to provide a shield for the control tower down here. Now while I know I can do it, any missiles or lasers that you guys can block would be very helpful."

 _"Roger that. We'll be on pest control. Any other requests?"_

"That we have special friend rice tonight, not egg."

 _"Girl, you just read my mind. Roger that."_

She had to smile at Mikey before she cleared her mind and summoned her energy from within. She used up a lot in the tunnel, but if the guys could keep the hits away, she could put herself in a suspended state and buy the time Donny needed.

Somewhere up in the sky, Leo was meditating. He didn't know where he was, only that he was in a high-speed jet that he had no control of. And it was making it really difficult to meditate.

He let out a sigh and stood back up. He'd been speeding round for hours now. The jet hadn't run out of fuel, but had had a few near misses with other Sh'Okanabo ships, and he'd seen quite a few collisions. He'd tried to contact his family numerous times but his watch had no signal. His chest had been thumping constantly, his heart pounding with the thought of being stuck out here. He was scared.

 _Come on Donnie._

He though to his brothers, to Venus, wondering what they were doing. He prayed they were safe. If they got back home safe and sound, he wouldn't care about whatever punishment Master Splinter was going to give him for putting his family in such danger.

 _I deserve it anyway._

An explosion to his left made the jet rock so he sat back down again. He balked though when he stared out the window and saw another jet heading straight for him.

 _"Autopilot deactivated."_

His thumb automatically went for the eject button. He held his breath as his seat flew upwards and in the next second he felt a wave of heat as the two ships beneath him collided. It was quickly replaced by freezing air against his skin. Pressure closed in around him and his head felt like it was going to explode. Then it suddenly released as a suit wrapped round his body from the seat and a helmet encased his head. He let out his breath, suddenly relieved. And then suddenly very afraid. He was alone, floating in space.

Donny was getting more and more frustrated with the computer before him.

"Why won't you work?!" He yelled, the control panel relinquishing nothing to the turtle. And it didn't help that he had Raphael badgering his ear.

 _"Donny, how long are you gonna be?"_

"Erm, Mr Turtle sir…"

"I mean, I know what I'm doing, so why don't you?"

 _"Are you yelling at me or the computer?"_

"Erm, sir…"

"It's not as if you have to think about it or anything."

"Sir!"

"What?!" He stared at the technician next to him.

"Erm, I pinpointed the locations of all the Sh'Okanabo jets and the last two just went off grid."

"So?"

"Sir, the reason you can't hack into anything is because there's nothing to hack. All the jets are gone. They've been destroyed."

"No…"

It hit him like one of the missiles Venus and his brothers had been deflecting.

"No, they can't have done. I would've…" Felt it.

"I'm sorry sir."

"But-"

 _"Donny, I'm gonna go look. Mikey'll stay here."_

"Raph no, there's still a battle going on. We don't have enough defence down here."

 _"Maybe I can help with that Donatello."_

The new voice made the two brothers cringe but when Donny looked outside he'd never been so happy to see a fleet of EPF ships in his life.

"Bishop, what are you doing here?"

 _"Ending a war that should never have started. General Hookan, I request that your troops back down and return to base while the EPF round up the Ritithi soldiers."_

"Permission granted," the General replied.

 _"Donatello, tell Venus to keep up the shield until we have secured the skies."_

"But-"

 _"I hear you Bishop."_ Venus' voice rang out on all the comms watches. They hated how weak it sounded. _"Just don't be long."_

 _"Mikey and I are gonna go look for Leo."_

Raph didn't wait for a reply, so Donny headed downstairs and out towards Venus. She was still stood, straining as she kept the shield up around the control tower.

Above them, their leader was floating in space, trying to keep calm. He could see explosions in the distance, the surface of Mithillip hundreds of miles away. But he was very much alone. His chest kept fluttering, and he recognised the signs of a panic attack.

 _Just breathe. They'll find you._

He tried his watch for the umpteenth time. "Guys? Anyone? Come in."

Nothing. His chest thumped as his lungs burned. He couldn't breathe.

 _"-eo?"_

His chest lurched.

"Raph?"

 _"Le-"_

"Mikey?"

He peered into the distance to see two jets speeding towards him.

"Guys?"

 _"Leo!"_

He saw flashes of green in each window, and then the darkness crept in.

"Venus. Venus! You can stop now! Let go!"

Venus could hear someone speaking to her as though from far away, but it was only when Donny shook her that she opened her eyes.

"Bishop has the planet secure. You can let go now."

Venus nodded and slowly let go of the shield, preserving as much strength as possible before pitching forward.

Donny caught her, noting how pale she was.

"Thank you," she muttered.

"I think we're doing this the wrong way round," he replied, earning an amused huff.

The arrival of two jets behind them had the pair turning round. Mikey leapt out of his and headed towards Raphael's.

"Guys!" Don called, helping Venus towards the ships, only to freeze when the pair came out supporting an unconscious Leonardo.

"Leo!"

He and Venus ran forward as the other two lay their leader on the ground.

"We found him floating around in space. He was talking to us fine and then he just passed out."

Donny checked his pulse, finding it very high.

"Maybe a panic attack? I'll check him over in the medical bay."

The group headed to the makeshift hospital next to the control tower where they found General Hookan and Bishop waiting for them.

"Turtles," he greeted, eyeing up Leonardo. "How ironic that he insisted on staying and ended up missing most of the fun."

"I'm warning you Bishop-"

"Enough Raph. As soon as I've checked him over we're going home." Don began his examination with the help of another doctor while the others glared at Bishop.

"In what exactly?"

"In one of your-"

"In one of my jets," Hookan interrupted. "It's the least I can do, and your brother is the one that got you all involved. And for that I am thankful."

"I'll give you clearance to land back on Earth," Bishop stated before moving off. The others glared at him.

"I hate that man," Mikey stated.

"Don't we all," Raph agreed, turning back to their brother as Donny said thank you to the doctor. "Well?"

"High blood pressure and elevated heart rate, classic signs of a panic attack. He probably starting freaking out the moment the jet left so I'm not surprised really."

"So, we can go home?"

"Yes Mikey. Home sounds good."

Hookan and Kasim led the group to a refuelled jet to say their goodbyes, before the control tower assisted their take off. Mikey then took control as Don kept watch on Leo and Venus dozed on Raph's shoulder.

"How long will this take?" The latter asked, whispering so as not to wake Venus.

"Couple of hours tops? This thing's a lot faster than what Bishop gave us."

"It's his fault we were there in the first place."

"Which is why we're going to leave him to deal with all the diplomacy."

"Sounds right up his street," said a strained voice.

The two brothers stared down at the leader, who smiled back at them.

"Good to have you back Leo!" Mikey called.

"Shh! You'll wake Venus!" Raph snapped.

"Is she okay?" Leo asked, concerned at her pale complexion.

"Nothing that good Chinese take-out and a good night's sleep won't cure," Don answered.

Just over an hour later, the group were walking into Cody's apartment. Master Splinter went to admonish them for not calling but when he saw how tired they looked, Venus practically relying on Raphael to keep her upright, he refrained against it.

"I don't want to know, tell me tomorrow. Cody, and your dinner, are waiting for you."

The group grinned at their rat, Venus allowing herself to be led while Mikey began chattering. Leo hung back, and Splinter could see something in his eyes that was troubling. But the turtle stepped forward and gave his sensei a tight hug.

"Thank you, father."

The old rat smiled, released his son and accompanied him to the table for what would be the best-tasting Chinese take-out the family had ever had.


	8. Old Habits Die Hard

_**A/N - Head's up guys, this is the last chapter for now in Lessons of Time Part 1, but Part 2's chapters should be up soon! This is a short Splinter-centric piece which hopefully makes up for the lack of attention our favourite rat got during Fast Forward.**_

 _ **Anyway, thank you for reading these chapters and for sticking with me, and hopefully see you in part 2!**_

 _ **P.S. I don't own TMNT, I just love it.**_

 **Old Habits Die Hard**

It felt strange having a garden. While he certainly enjoyed feeling the morning sun on his old bones, Master Splinter could never quite get used to seeing the sky every day. He had created a little routine for himself now: awake just before dawn to see the sun rise from the little garden; settle down for some meditation and tai chi; eat breakfast with his family; spend hours pottering amongst the plants, tending to them and training Cody. Sometimes in his meditation sessions he was joined by Leonardo or Venus, but he often liked having a moment or two to himself.

They could do that here. Unlike at home, they didn't have to live on top of one another. It wasn't so bad in their current lair, but their original home…

 _Could I have done better? That place was so small for four growing boys and their inexperienced father._

 _Smaller meant you could keep a better eye on them_ another voice added. The old rat smiled to himself.

 _Perhaps._

As he snipped a few more leaves from one of his bonsai he heard his youngest son climbing up towards him. He turned just as the stairwell door opened.

"It is lovely to see you up here, Michelangelo. Perhaps you would like to join me in some gardening?"

He ignored the grimace on the boy's face.

"Actually Sensei, we were all just heading into town and wondered if you'd like to come. There's a new shopping mall that Cody wants to check out."

"Thank you my son but I am quite content up here."

"Yeah Leo guessed as much. Well, if you want anything just let me know."

The boy bowed and went back down the stairwell, leaving his father puzzled. Was that disappointment he'd seen on his face? Michelangelo had adapted so well to this world: he flourished in attention and his new freedom seemed to have done him a lot of good, when he wasn't playing with videogames that is.

 _My sons are now Chunin. Despite this upheaval, despite all the chaos of these past years, my sons still manage to train and improve. And despite the freedoms and temptations of this world, they put their training, the very fundamentals of our clan, our family, first. Yet_ _ **I**_ _am afraid to leave this apartment._

He looked down to the earth below him. He'd only been out of Cody's home a few times since they'd arrived: the clone incident, the gala, the time-travel incident. Each time he had been rather…redundant. It was his sons, Venus, and Cody who had saved the day on those occasions, not him.

 _They do not need me anymore. I am a burden, better placed in a garden than a battle._

 _Is that so?_ Splinter shook his head, trying to silence the other voice. _They do not need you? Is that why Donatello constantly updates you on the progress of the inter-dimensional machine? Why Raphael moans to you about the future? Why Leonardo asks your advice before every mission still, and every date he takes with Venus? Is that why your youngest was disappointed when you refused to explore this world with him?_

The rat continued to stare at the world below. Here, he could walk freely down the street and not be captured or beaten or attacked. Here his sons can do the same, and do so gladly. So why couldn't he?

 _I thought ninjas adapted to their surroundings? You have lived in the shadows because you had to. Here you can hide in plain sight. Live a little._

The rat snorted but considered this. What did he have to lose? Yes this apartment meant that his family do not have to be crammed in together; they can have their own space, their own time without being disturbed by another. But in rejecting his freedom, had the old rat actually sacrificed time he could be spending _with_ his family. _"Leo guessed as much"._ Did his son really have so little faith in him?

 _Or does he understand the fear you feel, having taken so long to get over it himself?_

The rat let out a sigh and grabbed his walking stick. If he hurried he could catch them up. He headed down the stairs as quickly as his creaking legs would take him before taking the elevator to the garage. He was disappointed to find the larger hover vehicle gone, but nonetheless he continued his journey, opting to hunt out this shopping mall on foot. He left the building and headed onto the street, immediately overwhelmed by the traffic.

 _This is worse than back at home, though the air seems a little clearer._

He followed the main direction of footfall, figuring that would take him into the centre of the city. In his pocket was a device that produced maps, and he know cursed himself for not listening to Donatello's lessons on how to use it. After 15 minutes of walking he turned down a street full of colour: there were flags and posters in every shade of green, yellow, blue, every colour he could think of. The stores seemed to sell everything, from art supplies to special boots for walking on the moon with. It was an assault on the senses and he was glad to escape to a much quieter street. However, three turnings later the rat found himself lost. He cursed himself again.

 _Always be aware of your surroundings. One of the first lessons in ninjutsu and I have forgotten it._

He looked all around for some inclination on where to go but found none.

 _There are too many colours in this place! Too many signs, too many-_

"Are you alright there?"

Splinter whipped round to find a bright purple creature talking to him. It had long braids in every shade of pink he could think of and, thankfully, a beaming smile.

"I asked if you were alright?" the creature repeated, smiling again. "You seem a little lost."

"Thank you but I'm fine," Splinter replied before turning away.

 _Do not be a fool_. The rat opened himself a little more.

"Actually," he added, turning back round. "I am lost. Could you tell me where the new shopping mall is?"

"Sure! I'm heading there now if you wanted to come with me?"

Splinter was not prepared for this as a response but didn't have a lot of time to answer before the creature took his arm and began leading the way. He gathered from its mindless chatter that it was a young woman, recently moved to the city for a job and who was 'super stoked to live somewhere so noisy'. While the rat said very little, he absorbed her words while watching the streets around him. Try as he might, he inevitably lost track of the way back to where she'd found him, and so was relying on her sense of direction. Soon a gargantuan building covered in colour changing lights appeared before them and they headed inside. In the atrium she released his arm.

"This okay for you?"

"Yes, thank you. For your help, I mean."

"No problem! Thanks for listening to me!" She gave him another beaming smile before heading towards the escalator. She had thoughtfully left him next to the mall map which he perused with interest. He checked the time.

 _1pm. Food court it is. Thankfully it is on the ground floor_.

Knowing his youngest son's stomach worked like clockwork, Splinter confidently moved forward into the maze of restaurants, bars, cafes, and kiosks that filled the floor. He stood still right in the middle.

 _Now, to listen._

Very faintly he heard an argument brewing:

"You cannot beat a New York slice, Mike. End of."

"But we are in New York Raph! So it's technically the same pizza."

"My ass it is! Where's the cheese? The grease?"

"The cheese is on there!"

"That ain't cheese."

 _Bingo_.

The rat swiftly moved through the crowd, following his sons' bickering to find the others watching with disdain as they continued to battle.

"What do ya think it is Raph? Fake cheese?"

"Crap, that's what I think it is. Utter crap. I don't wanna know what it is. I know it ain't cheese and that's that."

"You reckon they use fake dough as well?"

"Master Splinter?!"

The two turtles froze at Leo's voice, turning to find their father calmly watching their exchange.

"Sensei? What are you doing here?"

Master Splinter couldn't help but smile as his youngest bounded up to him, grinning.

"I decided to take you up on your offer, my son. I have never been in a shopping mall before and I thought you could show me around."

"Sure! I mean, we were gonna grab some lunch now, if that's okay?"

"Of course. What are we having?"

"Piz-"

"We hadn't decided yet," Donny interjected. "There's been a bit of a debate."

"We passed a ramen shop next to the ice cream bar," Raph added. "What do you think Sensei?"

"I think a taste of home would be welcome indeed."

"Great! Let's go!" Michelangelo beamed as he grabbed his father's arm, leading him as though he were a child once again showing off a new drawing. The old rat let himself be guided, noting that everyone seemed to be smiling.

 _They are happy I am here._

Raphael and Donatello came to his side while Mikey chattered to Cody about ramen. Just ahead Serling was talking to Venus, who was hand in hand with Leonardo. Splinter was glad of the sight, pleased to see their leader relaxed enough to make his feelings plain in such unfamiliar surroundings. On cue, the eldest of his sons turned his head to catch his father's eye. He gave him an understanding smile which the rat returned before they stepped into the Japanese restaurant. A family unit, glad of each other's company, no matter their surroundings.


End file.
